vendredi 27 février 2009
Attracted By Affiliate Marketing? Mistakes To Avoid
If there is one area of internet marketing that has seen many of those involved be extremely successful it is affiliate marketing. The key to that success is to undertake being an affiliate to other marketers with the required knowledge and marketing understanding. It takes time to build such knowledge but there are a few top marketers who earn huge sums from having cracked the affiliate success code.
Put simply, affiliate marketing is the process of putting all your marketing effort and any cost involved into promoting some other marketer's product or service to your own list members or build that list with the product. In return, a commission is earned which can, at times, be very high in relation to the price of the product or service.
Unfortunately, too many people consider that affiliate marketing offers them a chance of earning some easy money without the required effort. All that happens is that they source a product that is converting well and then sign up the seller's affiliate programme. They will find promotional material made available by the seller for affiliates to use to enable them to promote the product. These can take the form of pre prepared emails and advertisements, banner ads etc. By just relying on the promotional products themselves will not guarantee success. The informed marketers who understand the whole process behind affiliate marketing can achieve success of a level that all they do is promote other marketer's products and services.
Ignorance of the process of internet marketing is one of the main reasons why there are many people who fail at affiliate marketing. The marketer has to take into consideration the actual market that they are promoting to. They need to be able to "speak" the language of the niche, be able to connect with them, understand the problem and offer the appropriate solution. Just saying "here is a product, please buy it" is a recipe for no sales whatsoever.
In order for the affiliate to be able to speak to the niche market, they first have to be seen by that market. And this is where it is essential that any website that is promoting a product has to be sufficiently optimised for it to appear, preferably on the first page of the search engines. This can be either through an organic search undertaken by the prospect or through an ad appearing paid for by the affiliate which corresponds with the search terms used by the prospect. It is thus important to attain a working knowledge of the search engines and how pay per click advertising works.
Affiliate marketing does offer great opportunities to bypass the process of product creation and hang on the coattails of someone else's successful product. Yet this does not give the affiliate the excuse of not becoming aware of and understanding the very skills that the products owner has already mastered. That of internet marketing including understanding marketing to a specific niche and search engine optimisation.
----------------------------------------------------
Michael Tasker has an information publishing business offering those in their early stages free sound advice and tips including products that will make a difference. Forget the mountain of cheap and poor quality products that promise the earth with little effort required, and reach your goals and achieve success through the learning of the hows and whys. Building tomorrow's success today Go to http://www.goodbyemoneyworries.com
Put simply, affiliate marketing is the process of putting all your marketing effort and any cost involved into promoting some other marketer's product or service to your own list members or build that list with the product. In return, a commission is earned which can, at times, be very high in relation to the price of the product or service.
Unfortunately, too many people consider that affiliate marketing offers them a chance of earning some easy money without the required effort. All that happens is that they source a product that is converting well and then sign up the seller's affiliate programme. They will find promotional material made available by the seller for affiliates to use to enable them to promote the product. These can take the form of pre prepared emails and advertisements, banner ads etc. By just relying on the promotional products themselves will not guarantee success. The informed marketers who understand the whole process behind affiliate marketing can achieve success of a level that all they do is promote other marketer's products and services.
Ignorance of the process of internet marketing is one of the main reasons why there are many people who fail at affiliate marketing. The marketer has to take into consideration the actual market that they are promoting to. They need to be able to "speak" the language of the niche, be able to connect with them, understand the problem and offer the appropriate solution. Just saying "here is a product, please buy it" is a recipe for no sales whatsoever.
In order for the affiliate to be able to speak to the niche market, they first have to be seen by that market. And this is where it is essential that any website that is promoting a product has to be sufficiently optimised for it to appear, preferably on the first page of the search engines. This can be either through an organic search undertaken by the prospect or through an ad appearing paid for by the affiliate which corresponds with the search terms used by the prospect. It is thus important to attain a working knowledge of the search engines and how pay per click advertising works.
Affiliate marketing does offer great opportunities to bypass the process of product creation and hang on the coattails of someone else's successful product. Yet this does not give the affiliate the excuse of not becoming aware of and understanding the very skills that the products owner has already mastered. That of internet marketing including understanding marketing to a specific niche and search engine optimisation.
----------------------------------------------------
Michael Tasker has an information publishing business offering those in their early stages free sound advice and tips including products that will make a difference. Forget the mountain of cheap and poor quality products that promise the earth with little effort required, and reach your goals and achieve success through the learning of the hows and whys. Building tomorrow's success today Go to http://www.goodbyemoneyworries.com
mardi 24 février 2009
Make the Most Out of Your Time
One of the top complaints or obstacles that entrepreneurs have is "I don't have enough time."
Think about that for a moment---
Does that describe you? Do you have too much on your plate and not enough time?
Do you often find yourself dreaming, "If only I had more time?"
Well, you've probably heard the saying that we all have the same amount of time per day. It's true isn't it? We all have the same 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. How is it that some people seem to get so much done and others are struggling just to keep up?
Thinking that you can have MORE time is a major part of the problem.
There's nowhere to purchase MORE time. You have all the time that's available to you until your time is up - it's really about how you can more effectively choose where to invest your time.
The reality is that we all have responsibilities. These responsibilities can eat up a lot of your time if you don't find a way to manage it or delegate it.
If you're like me, you're an entrepreneur, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a party planner, a housekeeper, and the list goes on. Each of those roles comes with it a laundry list of THINGS TO DO.
What we need to remember as small business owners/entrepreneurs is that we need to focus our time during our "working hours" (whatever you designate those to be) to only doing those activities that either get you more clients (the MARKETING) or make you money (the client/STAGING work). Everything else can wait until after 5:00 or 6:00 pm.
Here are five ways to immediately upgrade your use of time:
1. Identify the time wasters
When you own a home based business, the line between your professional and personal life is blurred. To be successful, we need to put boundaries between the two even if you only walk five steps across the hall from your bedroom to your office.
Since you're not leaving your home to go to a separate place of work, the temptations of home responsibilities can pull at you throughout the day and many times keep you from getting things done.
Here are just a few examples: dishes, walking the dog, laundry, food shopping, exercising, cooking dinner. Sound familiar? We've all been there. What you think will only take a few minutes end up eating hours of your time that you can't get back.
2. Eliminate these time wasters
Now that you've identified what these time wasters are, make a commitment to not doing these activities during business hours. Consider this. If you worked for a corporation, would you be doing dishes or laundry during business hours? NO.
The only time you have for personal errands would be during your lunch hour, so if you absolutely have to do something, schedule it during your lunch break. Remember, you have to treat your business like a business, otherwise you'll get paid a hobby's salary, and I don't know too many people who get paid well for doing their hobbies.
3. Where are you overcommitted? What can you let go of? Say no to? Delegate? Delay?
When you consciously choose to stop doing something you make room in your life to put something else in its place. Create your own "Stop Doing List".
This is an extremely important step to upgrading your use of time. We need to do this in both our personal and our professional lives. This took me a long time to grasp.
It wasn't until recently that I finally hired a housecleaner to clean my house. What would take me an entire day and then some, takes two people about three hours to accomplish,
AND they do all the things I don't want to do or don't really have time to do like wiping down the baseboards regularly, cleaning the interior doors, cleaning the fireplace and cleaning the blinds. Having this service frees up my time so I can do other things, like hang out with my daughter.
Consider outsourcing housecleaning, gardening, grocery shopping (I've tried Safeway.com and it's pretty cool - a few minutes on my computer and the groceries are delivered - saves at least an hour of my time, not to mention gas), errands (there are personal assistants available for a very low cost - especially when you consider how much your time is worth).
4. Strategically choose which activities, projects, "things" you do that have the highest value and do those things first.
Most people waste 70-80% of their working day on low level, low value, and low return activities. If you want to earn more, enjoy more, and grow more, then you need to immediately start making better choices about where to invest your time.
Hiring an assistant to do the administrative tasks that take up a lot of your time would allow you to do more of the higher level work that brings in more revenue.
Outsourcing the bookkeeping would definitely free up your time and allow you to do what you do best, while allowing someone who actually likes numbers and knows how to manage them, do what they do best.
Hiring movers and Staging Assistants would allow you to complete projects quicker, take on more projects, keep the warehouse tidier and keep projects rolling and allow you to simultaneously provide a consultation to another client.
Don't get stuck in the trap of having to do everything yourself or you'll never free up the time to work ON your business. Take a look at all the tasks on your to-do list and ask yourself, "Does this really need to be done?" and then, "If it has to be done, can it be done by somebody else?"
If letting go of these tasks is scary to you (and sometimes it is, especially if you've always done it and have your own particular way of doing it) then try baby steps.
Identify a small task that you want to delegate (ex: answering calls).
Document the correct way to perform this task, step-by-step, create the document and make it a part of your staging operations manual.
Have someone follow your instructions and revise your document until you and your tester are comfortable with the newly documented system.
When the new system document is ready, give it to the person responsible for that task, and insert a copy into your personal staging operations manual. Repeat these steps on the next task.
5. Track your use of time and see where you can make better choices in the future.
It's too easy to fool yourself into thinking you're doing all you can with your time. It's human nature to rationalize away and see what we want to see.
But the truth is you can get so much more out of your time than you are. The key is to make if VISUALLY clear exactly where your time is going so that you can self-correct in real time.
By doing this over time you discipline yourself to make better time choices and accomplish more.
Start today to take 100% responsibility for how you invest your hours and minutes. No more excuses.
----------------------------------------------------
Alice T. Chan is the Staging Designers' Success Coach and founder of SuccessfulStagingBiz.com. Our tools/programs help Staging Designers catapult their success by turning an expensive hobby into a profitable expression of their talent. Alice publishes the bi-weekly ezine "Set the Stage for Your Success". To skyrocket your Staging Design business and gain credibility in record time, get FREE tips now at http://www.SuccessfulStagingBiz.com .
Think about that for a moment---
Does that describe you? Do you have too much on your plate and not enough time?
Do you often find yourself dreaming, "If only I had more time?"
Well, you've probably heard the saying that we all have the same amount of time per day. It's true isn't it? We all have the same 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. How is it that some people seem to get so much done and others are struggling just to keep up?
Thinking that you can have MORE time is a major part of the problem.
There's nowhere to purchase MORE time. You have all the time that's available to you until your time is up - it's really about how you can more effectively choose where to invest your time.
The reality is that we all have responsibilities. These responsibilities can eat up a lot of your time if you don't find a way to manage it or delegate it.
If you're like me, you're an entrepreneur, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a party planner, a housekeeper, and the list goes on. Each of those roles comes with it a laundry list of THINGS TO DO.
What we need to remember as small business owners/entrepreneurs is that we need to focus our time during our "working hours" (whatever you designate those to be) to only doing those activities that either get you more clients (the MARKETING) or make you money (the client/STAGING work). Everything else can wait until after 5:00 or 6:00 pm.
Here are five ways to immediately upgrade your use of time:
1. Identify the time wasters
When you own a home based business, the line between your professional and personal life is blurred. To be successful, we need to put boundaries between the two even if you only walk five steps across the hall from your bedroom to your office.
Since you're not leaving your home to go to a separate place of work, the temptations of home responsibilities can pull at you throughout the day and many times keep you from getting things done.
Here are just a few examples: dishes, walking the dog, laundry, food shopping, exercising, cooking dinner. Sound familiar? We've all been there. What you think will only take a few minutes end up eating hours of your time that you can't get back.
2. Eliminate these time wasters
Now that you've identified what these time wasters are, make a commitment to not doing these activities during business hours. Consider this. If you worked for a corporation, would you be doing dishes or laundry during business hours? NO.
The only time you have for personal errands would be during your lunch hour, so if you absolutely have to do something, schedule it during your lunch break. Remember, you have to treat your business like a business, otherwise you'll get paid a hobby's salary, and I don't know too many people who get paid well for doing their hobbies.
3. Where are you overcommitted? What can you let go of? Say no to? Delegate? Delay?
When you consciously choose to stop doing something you make room in your life to put something else in its place. Create your own "Stop Doing List".
This is an extremely important step to upgrading your use of time. We need to do this in both our personal and our professional lives. This took me a long time to grasp.
It wasn't until recently that I finally hired a housecleaner to clean my house. What would take me an entire day and then some, takes two people about three hours to accomplish,
AND they do all the things I don't want to do or don't really have time to do like wiping down the baseboards regularly, cleaning the interior doors, cleaning the fireplace and cleaning the blinds. Having this service frees up my time so I can do other things, like hang out with my daughter.
Consider outsourcing housecleaning, gardening, grocery shopping (I've tried Safeway.com and it's pretty cool - a few minutes on my computer and the groceries are delivered - saves at least an hour of my time, not to mention gas), errands (there are personal assistants available for a very low cost - especially when you consider how much your time is worth).
4. Strategically choose which activities, projects, "things" you do that have the highest value and do those things first.
Most people waste 70-80% of their working day on low level, low value, and low return activities. If you want to earn more, enjoy more, and grow more, then you need to immediately start making better choices about where to invest your time.
Hiring an assistant to do the administrative tasks that take up a lot of your time would allow you to do more of the higher level work that brings in more revenue.
Outsourcing the bookkeeping would definitely free up your time and allow you to do what you do best, while allowing someone who actually likes numbers and knows how to manage them, do what they do best.
Hiring movers and Staging Assistants would allow you to complete projects quicker, take on more projects, keep the warehouse tidier and keep projects rolling and allow you to simultaneously provide a consultation to another client.
Don't get stuck in the trap of having to do everything yourself or you'll never free up the time to work ON your business. Take a look at all the tasks on your to-do list and ask yourself, "Does this really need to be done?" and then, "If it has to be done, can it be done by somebody else?"
If letting go of these tasks is scary to you (and sometimes it is, especially if you've always done it and have your own particular way of doing it) then try baby steps.
Identify a small task that you want to delegate (ex: answering calls).
Document the correct way to perform this task, step-by-step, create the document and make it a part of your staging operations manual.
Have someone follow your instructions and revise your document until you and your tester are comfortable with the newly documented system.
When the new system document is ready, give it to the person responsible for that task, and insert a copy into your personal staging operations manual. Repeat these steps on the next task.
5. Track your use of time and see where you can make better choices in the future.
It's too easy to fool yourself into thinking you're doing all you can with your time. It's human nature to rationalize away and see what we want to see.
But the truth is you can get so much more out of your time than you are. The key is to make if VISUALLY clear exactly where your time is going so that you can self-correct in real time.
By doing this over time you discipline yourself to make better time choices and accomplish more.
Start today to take 100% responsibility for how you invest your hours and minutes. No more excuses.
----------------------------------------------------
Alice T. Chan is the Staging Designers' Success Coach and founder of SuccessfulStagingBiz.com. Our tools/programs help Staging Designers catapult their success by turning an expensive hobby into a profitable expression of their talent. Alice publishes the bi-weekly ezine "Set the Stage for Your Success". To skyrocket your Staging Design business and gain credibility in record time, get FREE tips now at http://www.SuccessfulStagingBiz.com .
mardi 17 février 2009
Real Work At Home Freelance Jobs
You will find 100's of work at home opportunities but along the road of freelance you will find plenty of scams along the way. The best way to avoid scams be sure to look for all the signs of a scam like:
1. Exaggerated claims of income!
2. Make money for little or no work!
3. No experience necessary!
4. Have inside information!
5. Needs payment before can provide you with information!
If the freelance opportunity passes the 5 scam signs I would highly recommend that you investigate any company you plan to work for as a freelancer by checking with the Better Business Bureau www.bbb.org and doing a Google search to view any issues out on the net. Search company name, company address, company telephone and even company email address! And last but not least ask for references!
Never and I mean never pay anything before you get your freelance job and most importantly "If It's Too Good To Be True! It Is!".
If you are still in doubt do not do it!
You will find many work at home companies offering real freelance jobs like:
Alpine Access - Hires customer service representatives using your own computer and telephones.
Convergys - Hires customer service representatives, sales agents and help desk persons working from home.
Extended Presence - Hires outbound sales agents and marketing support staff who work from home.
Internet Girl Friday - Hires information technology support as well as administrative agents who work from home . LiveOps - Hires customer service representatives using your own computer and telephones.
Spheris - Hires medical transcription and clinical documentation agents. . Staffcentrix - Hires virtual assistants.
VIPDesk - Offers a home-based concierge service!
Voicelog - Hires representatives to perform verifications for transactions done online or by telephone.
West At Home - Hires home-based customer service agents.
You should have some experience before applying with any of the above companies! You should have a great phone personality! You should have a resume! You should have a quiet and private home office!
Be self disciplined and organized!
You will need to have some equipment before you apply for such positions like a computer, internet connection, telephone with head set, ability to fax, email address and even a small web site will help.
You will have a lot of competition and you will need to set yourself aside from the completion and a resume type web site will do this for you along with a photo of your office.
To your success, Ozark Mike
----------------------------------------------------
Ozark Mike has been in the freelance industry for about 15 years! Has written many articles & e-books on this exciting industry. By visiting Ozark Mike's site at http://www.extramoneysolutions.com you will find 100's of free e-books, articles freelance job opportunities along with other unique opportunities to make money
1. Exaggerated claims of income!
2. Make money for little or no work!
3. No experience necessary!
4. Have inside information!
5. Needs payment before can provide you with information!
If the freelance opportunity passes the 5 scam signs I would highly recommend that you investigate any company you plan to work for as a freelancer by checking with the Better Business Bureau www.bbb.org and doing a Google search to view any issues out on the net. Search company name, company address, company telephone and even company email address! And last but not least ask for references!
Never and I mean never pay anything before you get your freelance job and most importantly "If It's Too Good To Be True! It Is!".
If you are still in doubt do not do it!
You will find many work at home companies offering real freelance jobs like:
Alpine Access - Hires customer service representatives using your own computer and telephones.
Convergys - Hires customer service representatives, sales agents and help desk persons working from home.
Extended Presence - Hires outbound sales agents and marketing support staff who work from home.
Internet Girl Friday - Hires information technology support as well as administrative agents who work from home . LiveOps - Hires customer service representatives using your own computer and telephones.
Spheris - Hires medical transcription and clinical documentation agents. . Staffcentrix - Hires virtual assistants.
VIPDesk - Offers a home-based concierge service!
Voicelog - Hires representatives to perform verifications for transactions done online or by telephone.
West At Home - Hires home-based customer service agents.
You should have some experience before applying with any of the above companies! You should have a great phone personality! You should have a resume! You should have a quiet and private home office!
Be self disciplined and organized!
You will need to have some equipment before you apply for such positions like a computer, internet connection, telephone with head set, ability to fax, email address and even a small web site will help.
You will have a lot of competition and you will need to set yourself aside from the completion and a resume type web site will do this for you along with a photo of your office.
To your success, Ozark Mike
----------------------------------------------------
Ozark Mike has been in the freelance industry for about 15 years! Has written many articles & e-books on this exciting industry. By visiting Ozark Mike's site at http://www.extramoneysolutions.com you will find 100's of free e-books, articles freelance job opportunities along with other unique opportunities to make money
mercredi 11 février 2009
Stop Dreaming And Start An Online Business
In sports you can not play unless you get in the game. This is true when it comes to building an online business. Some of you need to stop dreaming and get started. Here are a couple of ways you can start an online business without spending a small fortune to do it.
1. One thing you can do is purchase an existing website or blog and develop it into an online business of your own. This makes a lot of sense for people because they may not want to go through the hardship of building the website and monetizing it with products.
This is also true with purchasing a blog. Today blog flipping is becoming a big business and it's a great way for you to get an attractive blog with a platform such as Word Press.
For a couple hundred dollars, or less, you can have a domain name and your own blog set up and ready for you to start marketing. It's fast, and it's a smart way to start an online business, for people who do not want to learn HTML code, or mess with any of the initial startup details that come with an online business.
2. One of the primary reasons that people go online today is to search for information. This presents an opportunity to start an online business and to do it for free.
You can join an affiliate program known as Clickbank.com and have access to thousands of digital information products in the matter of a few minutes. The interesting thing about this affiliate program is each digital product will be ready for you to market with your own affiliate website.
Every time you make a sale off of this website you earn a commission. Clickbank handles all of the details and sends you a check two times a month. Believe it or not there are people earning a full time living, and even getting rich, selling nothing but digital information products as a Clickbank affiliate.
One way to start an online business with this is to market your products using the pay per click business model. You can check out both Google Adwords, and Yahoo! Marketing, to determine which might be the best fit for the products you are wanting to market.
In summary you can definitely stop dreaming and start an online business as an affiliate marketer, or by purchasing an existing website or blog. These are both ways that do not cost a lot of money and can get you in the Internet marketing game.
----------------------------------------------------
Paul Jesse started a successful work from home business in 2003, and inspired many others to start an online business
working from home with affiliate programs. If you're ready
to make money working online, visit ==>http://www.sheamarketing.com for more information.
1. One thing you can do is purchase an existing website or blog and develop it into an online business of your own. This makes a lot of sense for people because they may not want to go through the hardship of building the website and monetizing it with products.
This is also true with purchasing a blog. Today blog flipping is becoming a big business and it's a great way for you to get an attractive blog with a platform such as Word Press.
For a couple hundred dollars, or less, you can have a domain name and your own blog set up and ready for you to start marketing. It's fast, and it's a smart way to start an online business, for people who do not want to learn HTML code, or mess with any of the initial startup details that come with an online business.
2. One of the primary reasons that people go online today is to search for information. This presents an opportunity to start an online business and to do it for free.
You can join an affiliate program known as Clickbank.com and have access to thousands of digital information products in the matter of a few minutes. The interesting thing about this affiliate program is each digital product will be ready for you to market with your own affiliate website.
Every time you make a sale off of this website you earn a commission. Clickbank handles all of the details and sends you a check two times a month. Believe it or not there are people earning a full time living, and even getting rich, selling nothing but digital information products as a Clickbank affiliate.
One way to start an online business with this is to market your products using the pay per click business model. You can check out both Google Adwords, and Yahoo! Marketing, to determine which might be the best fit for the products you are wanting to market.
In summary you can definitely stop dreaming and start an online business as an affiliate marketer, or by purchasing an existing website or blog. These are both ways that do not cost a lot of money and can get you in the Internet marketing game.
----------------------------------------------------
Paul Jesse started a successful work from home business in 2003, and inspired many others to start an online business
working from home with affiliate programs. If you're ready
to make money working online, visit ==>http://www.sheamarketing.com for more information.
lundi 9 février 2009
How To Get Free Traffic
Traffic is the life blood of any business. Without it you
will fail. Online marketing is no different to off line.
True, off line location, location, location may be the only
way to get footfall and customers into shops, clubs and restaurants and so on. Online, however, it doesn't matter where your website is located - generally speaking - but I will deal with hosting and traffic in another related article later on.
Every online business needs traffic. And the best website traffic in the world is targeted customers who want to buy from you. If you're just starting out do not use Pay Per Click paid advertising such as Google Adwords. You are almost an odds on certainty to lose money. I know because I've done it. Some marketers insist it is the way to get fast instant results. Yes, it is but it's also a way to kill your business dead before you even begin. Let's be honest: most of us starting out have nothing or nearly next to nothing. What you need is advice on how to get bundles and bundles of FREE targeted traffic to your site.
If hard work is not your thing then don't read any further.
The most important time you spend on your business is marketing. But the good news is you don't have to do it all at once. What I've set out is a staged programme to help you drive traffic to your site. Yes, it involves work and yes, your results won't be immediate BUT you will be building a business that will grow and grow and grow. And best of all it will be FREE and won't be subject to the whims of Google as long as you do it properly.
Below is a list of what you should be doing:
1 SEO
2 Article writing
3 Viral marketing
4 Traffic Exchanges
5 Blogging
6 Craig's List
7 Youtube
8 Squidoo
9 MySpace
10 Twitter
11 Facebook
12 List Building Network
13 Signature files
14 Press releases
15 Affiliate programs
16 Joint Ventures
17 Ad swaps
I'll deal with each point in detail in further related articles. In the meantime start doing some research as one of the best and easiest ways to get free traffic is by writing articles like this one.
However, a word of warning: never, ever write directly about your website, particularly if you are trying to sell something from it. Turn it around. For example if you are selling luxury chocolate write an article posing the question about the best chocolate you can buy. What should it have as its major ingredients? From there you can do a series of articles all about chocolate. Brainstorm! Use your resource box to put in the link to your site. Behave as an expert on quality chocolate.
----------------------------------------------------
Ian Heslop shows you how to use free ways to market your
online business. Want to learn more about profitable
internet marketing? Grab your 150 FREE marketing videos
here at: http://www.ianheslop.com
will fail. Online marketing is no different to off line.
True, off line location, location, location may be the only
way to get footfall and customers into shops, clubs and restaurants and so on. Online, however, it doesn't matter where your website is located - generally speaking - but I will deal with hosting and traffic in another related article later on.
Every online business needs traffic. And the best website traffic in the world is targeted customers who want to buy from you. If you're just starting out do not use Pay Per Click paid advertising such as Google Adwords. You are almost an odds on certainty to lose money. I know because I've done it. Some marketers insist it is the way to get fast instant results. Yes, it is but it's also a way to kill your business dead before you even begin. Let's be honest: most of us starting out have nothing or nearly next to nothing. What you need is advice on how to get bundles and bundles of FREE targeted traffic to your site.
If hard work is not your thing then don't read any further.
The most important time you spend on your business is marketing. But the good news is you don't have to do it all at once. What I've set out is a staged programme to help you drive traffic to your site. Yes, it involves work and yes, your results won't be immediate BUT you will be building a business that will grow and grow and grow. And best of all it will be FREE and won't be subject to the whims of Google as long as you do it properly.
Below is a list of what you should be doing:
1 SEO
2 Article writing
3 Viral marketing
4 Traffic Exchanges
5 Blogging
6 Craig's List
7 Youtube
8 Squidoo
9 MySpace
10 Twitter
11 Facebook
12 List Building Network
13 Signature files
14 Press releases
15 Affiliate programs
16 Joint Ventures
17 Ad swaps
I'll deal with each point in detail in further related articles. In the meantime start doing some research as one of the best and easiest ways to get free traffic is by writing articles like this one.
However, a word of warning: never, ever write directly about your website, particularly if you are trying to sell something from it. Turn it around. For example if you are selling luxury chocolate write an article posing the question about the best chocolate you can buy. What should it have as its major ingredients? From there you can do a series of articles all about chocolate. Brainstorm! Use your resource box to put in the link to your site. Behave as an expert on quality chocolate.
----------------------------------------------------
Ian Heslop shows you how to use free ways to market your
online business. Want to learn more about profitable
internet marketing? Grab your 150 FREE marketing videos
here at: http://www.ianheslop.com
vendredi 6 février 2009
Building Your Opt-in List
The first and most important point to understand is whenever you sell, or give away any item online, you MUST get your customer's name (first name will be fine) together with their email address.
So before you allow a new customer to download, for instance, a free e-book, they have to supply you with their name and email. It's not an option to let them have the e-book first and ask them for their name and email later.
This simply won't do. It's a bit like tipping money down the drain, and then trying to retrieve it later only to find it's gone beyond the u-bend!
So what's the best way to capture these names? When you create your website, one of the best ways to begin is by using what's called an "opt-in" form for your customer to complete. All you need at this stage is their first name and their email address. Once they have submitted this information they will be taken to another page where they can click on a button that says something like: "Click here for your free e-book", or if you are selling a product the button would say "Buy Now", etc. Then your autoresponder will swing into action and bingo, the new customer is added to your list.
Your own customer list is a very valuable commodity. Yes, you can always buy a customer list, but none of these names would be "hot prospects" - until they have actually ordered a product from you. So your own opt-in list will always be worth much, much more - after all it's full of hot prospects who know your site.
Once you have a growing List, you will need to keep in regular touch with them. A weekly or fortnightly newsletter should do the trick nicely. However, never bombard your customers with products to buy each time you post a newsletter - they will very soon get fed up, and leave! It's very important to develop a good and friendly relationship. A good rule of thumb would be offering a new product once every two or three months. In the meantime your newsletters could offer FREE goodies, such as the occasional free e-book, or other useful information.
A simple way to gain the trust of a customer is to provide them with an escape route. Show them you are not there to trap them. Keep a clean List and always elaborate your email and newsletters by providing detailed information on how to unsubscribe from the list. Guarantee them that they may unsubscribe whenever they want to. Many people are wary that they might be stuck for life and would have to abandon their email accounts when they get pestered with spam.
You must never lose the trust of your customers. If you sell your List to others and they get spammed, you'll end up losing many of your customers. A good clean private list will earn you a good reputation and drive in more traffic.
On the subject of spamming - many email providers are becoming very vigilant, and if they suspect you are spamming, your List you may get stopped altogether. Having what's called a "Double Opt-in" system prevents this problem at the start.
This simply means that after your customer has supplied their name and email address, they receive a message from your autoresponder telling them an email has been sent to them. They need to open this email and simply click on the link provided, which in effect is confirming their permission to join your List and receive emails and promotions from you. Most people operate the Double Opt-in system these days.
----------------------------------------------------
Ron Woodham retired at 65 and set up his own Internet Business. He spent 9 months teaching himself how to create and build websites from scratch, and now shares his knowledge through his Building Blocks for Beginners. Visit his website http://www.newbieplace.co.uk for the full story.
So before you allow a new customer to download, for instance, a free e-book, they have to supply you with their name and email. It's not an option to let them have the e-book first and ask them for their name and email later.
This simply won't do. It's a bit like tipping money down the drain, and then trying to retrieve it later only to find it's gone beyond the u-bend!
So what's the best way to capture these names? When you create your website, one of the best ways to begin is by using what's called an "opt-in" form for your customer to complete. All you need at this stage is their first name and their email address. Once they have submitted this information they will be taken to another page where they can click on a button that says something like: "Click here for your free e-book", or if you are selling a product the button would say "Buy Now", etc. Then your autoresponder will swing into action and bingo, the new customer is added to your list.
Your own customer list is a very valuable commodity. Yes, you can always buy a customer list, but none of these names would be "hot prospects" - until they have actually ordered a product from you. So your own opt-in list will always be worth much, much more - after all it's full of hot prospects who know your site.
Once you have a growing List, you will need to keep in regular touch with them. A weekly or fortnightly newsletter should do the trick nicely. However, never bombard your customers with products to buy each time you post a newsletter - they will very soon get fed up, and leave! It's very important to develop a good and friendly relationship. A good rule of thumb would be offering a new product once every two or three months. In the meantime your newsletters could offer FREE goodies, such as the occasional free e-book, or other useful information.
A simple way to gain the trust of a customer is to provide them with an escape route. Show them you are not there to trap them. Keep a clean List and always elaborate your email and newsletters by providing detailed information on how to unsubscribe from the list. Guarantee them that they may unsubscribe whenever they want to. Many people are wary that they might be stuck for life and would have to abandon their email accounts when they get pestered with spam.
You must never lose the trust of your customers. If you sell your List to others and they get spammed, you'll end up losing many of your customers. A good clean private list will earn you a good reputation and drive in more traffic.
On the subject of spamming - many email providers are becoming very vigilant, and if they suspect you are spamming, your List you may get stopped altogether. Having what's called a "Double Opt-in" system prevents this problem at the start.
This simply means that after your customer has supplied their name and email address, they receive a message from your autoresponder telling them an email has been sent to them. They need to open this email and simply click on the link provided, which in effect is confirming their permission to join your List and receive emails and promotions from you. Most people operate the Double Opt-in system these days.
----------------------------------------------------
Ron Woodham retired at 65 and set up his own Internet Business. He spent 9 months teaching himself how to create and build websites from scratch, and now shares his knowledge through his Building Blocks for Beginners. Visit his website http://www.newbieplace.co.uk for the full story.
jeudi 5 février 2009
The KISS Approach To Online Success!
Simple Rules To Keep Your Home Based Internet Business On Track There is an old acronym which runs K.I.S.S. - Keep It Short & Simple! Perhaps nowhere is that more applicable than when people begin to look at ways to make money on the internet.
Humans love to complicate things! We do it all the time - just look at our lives! We have all this wonderful technology at our disposal and yet our lives generally are far more complicated than they were 50 years ago (so I'm told by 85 year old mum anyway)!
When I look at some of the "red hot money making opportunities" that are promoted online I get really confused - I haven't got a clue what half of them are on about! And that is with some years of online business experience behind me. Heaven knows what someone new to Internet Marketing would make of them! Just what is 5 level forced matrix anyway?
There is a Japanese term that I love, "Shibumi". It means that something has a simply stated functional elegance. Something that does the job it was designed for perfectly without any unnecessary embellishments being added.
When I look around at the current state of Internet Marketing I see very little Shibumi! I see a lot of gaudy, over hyped, nonsense, being peddled to the unsuspecting masses! People get sucked in by the false promises and clever advertising, into a scheme that will never work, and end up many dollars poorer and with their dreams shattered.
There are two things that Internet Marketing virgins need to consider; what they are going to sell and how they are going to market it? The first is relatively simple - find a good affiliate product. It is in the second area that most people fall down!
The biggest problem faced by anyone running an online business is....... just how do you reach your "market"? How do you get customers to see the wonderful product or service you have for sale? You may have an all signing, all dancing, website, but if no one visits your store you are not going to make money!
I call this the "Sahara" approach. Many people open up their shop front in the middle of the desert, and then wonder why they are not getting any sales. The difference that makes the difference is not the product, or the way it is presented, but the way in which it is marketed.
If you are looking to earn money at home with an online business you would do well to remember this simple fact: 95% of your efforts should be geared towards driving traffic to your product!
That is one of the reasons I like business models that are "ready to go". If I have to worry about website design, HTML, or all the technicalities of presenting a site then I have problems. My energies are split and I am not concentrating on the right thing!
If I can find a product where this side has been taken care of then I am happy! All my energies can then be focused on marketing the product, which is the only thing that is going to make me money anyway!
The difficulty sometimes is staying focused on this simple truth. There are just so many wonderful distractions out there! It is vital when you are working on building your business, to stay focused on what you are doing and what you want to achieve.
It is vital that you learn to see things through. If you start one project try not to get distracted. Don't move on to something else until the first project is complete.
Do just ONE thing at a time, e.g. spend an hour generating traffic, a day writing a report, etc. etc. Don't try and write a report, do link exchanges, install affiliate software and create a new website all at the same time! You will end up getting nothing done. Do one single thing at a time with complete focus and you will succeed!
So, remember these three crucial rules for staying on target with your efforts to make money on the internet. Keep your business model as simple as possible; avoid the temptation to chase each new "opportunity"; and focus on the task in hand. Follow these simple steps and you will soon start to make good money online.
----------------------------------------------------
Steve Cowley has run full-time Fitness and Martial Arts Clubs for over 25 years. His goal is to empower people to take control of their own lives and achieve the success they desire. His internet business is based around the Online Business Alliance Model. Visit http://www.InternetWealthReviews.com
Humans love to complicate things! We do it all the time - just look at our lives! We have all this wonderful technology at our disposal and yet our lives generally are far more complicated than they were 50 years ago (so I'm told by 85 year old mum anyway)!
When I look at some of the "red hot money making opportunities" that are promoted online I get really confused - I haven't got a clue what half of them are on about! And that is with some years of online business experience behind me. Heaven knows what someone new to Internet Marketing would make of them! Just what is 5 level forced matrix anyway?
There is a Japanese term that I love, "Shibumi". It means that something has a simply stated functional elegance. Something that does the job it was designed for perfectly without any unnecessary embellishments being added.
When I look around at the current state of Internet Marketing I see very little Shibumi! I see a lot of gaudy, over hyped, nonsense, being peddled to the unsuspecting masses! People get sucked in by the false promises and clever advertising, into a scheme that will never work, and end up many dollars poorer and with their dreams shattered.
There are two things that Internet Marketing virgins need to consider; what they are going to sell and how they are going to market it? The first is relatively simple - find a good affiliate product. It is in the second area that most people fall down!
The biggest problem faced by anyone running an online business is....... just how do you reach your "market"? How do you get customers to see the wonderful product or service you have for sale? You may have an all signing, all dancing, website, but if no one visits your store you are not going to make money!
I call this the "Sahara" approach. Many people open up their shop front in the middle of the desert, and then wonder why they are not getting any sales. The difference that makes the difference is not the product, or the way it is presented, but the way in which it is marketed.
If you are looking to earn money at home with an online business you would do well to remember this simple fact: 95% of your efforts should be geared towards driving traffic to your product!
That is one of the reasons I like business models that are "ready to go". If I have to worry about website design, HTML, or all the technicalities of presenting a site then I have problems. My energies are split and I am not concentrating on the right thing!
If I can find a product where this side has been taken care of then I am happy! All my energies can then be focused on marketing the product, which is the only thing that is going to make me money anyway!
The difficulty sometimes is staying focused on this simple truth. There are just so many wonderful distractions out there! It is vital when you are working on building your business, to stay focused on what you are doing and what you want to achieve.
It is vital that you learn to see things through. If you start one project try not to get distracted. Don't move on to something else until the first project is complete.
Do just ONE thing at a time, e.g. spend an hour generating traffic, a day writing a report, etc. etc. Don't try and write a report, do link exchanges, install affiliate software and create a new website all at the same time! You will end up getting nothing done. Do one single thing at a time with complete focus and you will succeed!
So, remember these three crucial rules for staying on target with your efforts to make money on the internet. Keep your business model as simple as possible; avoid the temptation to chase each new "opportunity"; and focus on the task in hand. Follow these simple steps and you will soon start to make good money online.
----------------------------------------------------
Steve Cowley has run full-time Fitness and Martial Arts Clubs for over 25 years. His goal is to empower people to take control of their own lives and achieve the success they desire. His internet business is based around the Online Business Alliance Model. Visit http://www.InternetWealthReviews.com
mercredi 4 février 2009
Seven Tips For Search Engine Optimization
When you are looking to boost traffic to your website, you need to search engine optimize - or SEO in abbreviation - it. In order to do that you have to understand the basics of SEO and how to use it to make sure your website is found by the people you want to see it. SEO allows search engines, spiders, crawlers, and other search methods to hit upon your website every time. Here we have collected seven SEO tips we think you can use towards achieving this goal and making your website come out as the cream of the crop and not on the bottom of the web searching food chain. Be forewarned: these SEO tips will take some time and effort to put into effect on your website, but they are well worth it and will keep you from losing visitors because they can't find you.
SEO Tips #1: Make sure that your website is designed to be search engine friendly.
How do you do that? Actually, it's pretty easy. Use as much text in your website as possible as most search engines search on keywords. Pictures are great, but keep them to a relevant minimum. If you use things such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) or JavaScript, do not include it with your HTML coding. Instead keep it in a separate file so that the web search engines look through your text first. Research the pros and cons of tables as compared to frames and use the one that is right for you, and try to steer clear of non-HTML file types such as Adobe PDF and Microsoft Word documents.
SEO Tips #2: Use keywords in your text that the search engine will hit upon.
By using the right keywords in your website text you should get some outstanding results when someone searches for your site. The key to search engine optimization is getting your website to the number one spot when the search results are displayed. Use words that describe what your website is about and words that you think other people would use to search for the information you are presenting. Take your time and if you have to, take a look at other websites and see what keywords they are using to score the results they are getting.
SEO Tips #3: Review the information on your page such as headings to see if it is helping or hindering your page rankings.
This particular SEO tip should be done every few months. The information in your page title and header should include not only the description of your website, but also a keyword or two so that the search engines hit on it immediately.
SEO Tips #4: Add META tags and META description tags to all of your pages.
When you use a search engine to find a website, it usually returns a small paragraph telling you what the website is about. This is the META and META description tags. By using keywords in these and including them on all of your web pages - remember, if properly done the search engine will go to one of your web pages as compared to the homepage - you will be able to quickly and efficiently tell the search engine and the visitor what you are all about.
This is a very important SEO tip that should not be ignored.
SEO Tips #5: Utilize link popularity. A trick used by Google, link popularity is used to rank your search engine.
This is done by the search engine seeking out all of the
other websites and pages that are linked to your website.
The more sites that carry a link to you, the better.
SEO Tips #6: List your site with Google's Open Directory Project for more recognition.
Google is partial to websites that are listed in the Open Directory Project, so do your best to get your website listed in there.
SEO Tips #7: Use ALL of the above tips in conjunction with one another.
By using all of the above SEO tips together when you are building or tweaking your website, you should notice an almost immediate difference in your website page rankings.
You may have to tweak your website a few times to accomplish your goal, but it will be worth the effort in the long run.
----------------------------------------------------
"FIRE your Web Design and seo Company! http://www.completewebsolutions.co.uk
For the FIRST TIME in a long while , I am about to Take on
NEW clients and Help them grow their Business using the
same information I routinely charge my clients
HUNDREDS...even THOUSANDS of Pounds for!" Check this out !! http://www.completewebsolutions.co.uk/websiteconsultancy.htm
SEO Tips #1: Make sure that your website is designed to be search engine friendly.
How do you do that? Actually, it's pretty easy. Use as much text in your website as possible as most search engines search on keywords. Pictures are great, but keep them to a relevant minimum. If you use things such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) or JavaScript, do not include it with your HTML coding. Instead keep it in a separate file so that the web search engines look through your text first. Research the pros and cons of tables as compared to frames and use the one that is right for you, and try to steer clear of non-HTML file types such as Adobe PDF and Microsoft Word documents.
SEO Tips #2: Use keywords in your text that the search engine will hit upon.
By using the right keywords in your website text you should get some outstanding results when someone searches for your site. The key to search engine optimization is getting your website to the number one spot when the search results are displayed. Use words that describe what your website is about and words that you think other people would use to search for the information you are presenting. Take your time and if you have to, take a look at other websites and see what keywords they are using to score the results they are getting.
SEO Tips #3: Review the information on your page such as headings to see if it is helping or hindering your page rankings.
This particular SEO tip should be done every few months. The information in your page title and header should include not only the description of your website, but also a keyword or two so that the search engines hit on it immediately.
SEO Tips #4: Add META tags and META description tags to all of your pages.
When you use a search engine to find a website, it usually returns a small paragraph telling you what the website is about. This is the META and META description tags. By using keywords in these and including them on all of your web pages - remember, if properly done the search engine will go to one of your web pages as compared to the homepage - you will be able to quickly and efficiently tell the search engine and the visitor what you are all about.
This is a very important SEO tip that should not be ignored.
SEO Tips #5: Utilize link popularity. A trick used by Google, link popularity is used to rank your search engine.
This is done by the search engine seeking out all of the
other websites and pages that are linked to your website.
The more sites that carry a link to you, the better.
SEO Tips #6: List your site with Google's Open Directory Project for more recognition.
Google is partial to websites that are listed in the Open Directory Project, so do your best to get your website listed in there.
SEO Tips #7: Use ALL of the above tips in conjunction with one another.
By using all of the above SEO tips together when you are building or tweaking your website, you should notice an almost immediate difference in your website page rankings.
You may have to tweak your website a few times to accomplish your goal, but it will be worth the effort in the long run.
----------------------------------------------------
"FIRE your Web Design and seo Company! http://www.completewebsolutions.co.uk
For the FIRST TIME in a long while , I am about to Take on
NEW clients and Help them grow their Business using the
same information I routinely charge my clients
HUNDREDS...even THOUSANDS of Pounds for!" Check this out !! http://www.completewebsolutions.co.uk/websiteconsultancy.htm
mardi 3 février 2009
Ideas for Starting a Work at Home Business
Are you tired of doing the "commute thing" and are you longing to find a way to work at home? Have you given it a lot of thought but just don't know what to do or where to start? Let me tell you about three work at home businesses that are viable in today's market and easy to start up.
1. Virtual Assistant: This is a great option if you are just starting a work at home business. It's simple and requires some basic organizational skills. Many who work at home do not have time to run their business and answer the phone and emails. Others with "real jobs" many times are in need of some help with such things. A virtual assistant can be a life saver.
The duties of a virtual assistant are much the same as a "real job" assistant. The big difference is that the virtual assistant just walks down the hall in his/her house shoes and can work at home in their "jammies". This is a great business that fills a great need and should definitely be considered as one of your top choices if you enjoy being home and helping others keep their lives in order.
2. eBay Shop: This is a business that is on the rise due to the popularity of "recycling stuff". If you've ever used eBay to sell anything you know that money can be made working at home using eBay.
For some people, eBay is a simple website to use but for others who either don't have the time, knowledge or inclination, selling something that way is too much trouble. They are missing out on making money. This is good for you if you learn to understand and use eBay and create a shop to sell other people's items. When you work at home this way you can make a lot of money.
You may be wondering what to charge people to sell their "stuff". A charge of about 10% of the selling price of the item would reward you for your efforts. The customers you will deal with are usually going to be busy adults with no time to sell items on eBay or older adults who just do not understand technology.
If the idea of dealing with customers leaves you cold, you could open a specialty store and work at home. If you are a computer person and like technology, you could specialize in that type of item, laptops for instance. You would go to stores or people and buy their laptops and then resell them on eBay, usually making a big profit.
3. Online Writer: There are not many people doing online writing so there is not a lot of competition. With this at home business, you would write articles or other written material for others, This might be copy for a website that would help to optimize the traffic to that site which would make the site owner money. You would be given a topic and would write the article. You can get paid good money to do that as you work from home.
This is easier said than done. It takes developing your writing skill and creativity. It is the hardest of the three businesses we've discussed. Once you've gotten good at your craft and have developed a large list of clients you could make $15 or more per article. As you develop your speed, you could make $30 an hour or more! It's a lot of work but well worth it if you are a writer at heart.
We've talked about virtual assistant, eBay shop and online writer. These at work at home business bring you extra money, enough to make ends meet and maybe even much more than that. They are easy to get started and don't cost much.
1. Virtual Assistant: This is a great option if you are just starting a work at home business. It's simple and requires some basic organizational skills. Many who work at home do not have time to run their business and answer the phone and emails. Others with "real jobs" many times are in need of some help with such things. A virtual assistant can be a life saver.
The duties of a virtual assistant are much the same as a "real job" assistant. The big difference is that the virtual assistant just walks down the hall in his/her house shoes and can work at home in their "jammies". This is a great business that fills a great need and should definitely be considered as one of your top choices if you enjoy being home and helping others keep their lives in order.
2. eBay Shop: This is a business that is on the rise due to the popularity of "recycling stuff". If you've ever used eBay to sell anything you know that money can be made working at home using eBay.
For some people, eBay is a simple website to use but for others who either don't have the time, knowledge or inclination, selling something that way is too much trouble. They are missing out on making money. This is good for you if you learn to understand and use eBay and create a shop to sell other people's items. When you work at home this way you can make a lot of money.
You may be wondering what to charge people to sell their "stuff". A charge of about 10% of the selling price of the item would reward you for your efforts. The customers you will deal with are usually going to be busy adults with no time to sell items on eBay or older adults who just do not understand technology.
If the idea of dealing with customers leaves you cold, you could open a specialty store and work at home. If you are a computer person and like technology, you could specialize in that type of item, laptops for instance. You would go to stores or people and buy their laptops and then resell them on eBay, usually making a big profit.
3. Online Writer: There are not many people doing online writing so there is not a lot of competition. With this at home business, you would write articles or other written material for others, This might be copy for a website that would help to optimize the traffic to that site which would make the site owner money. You would be given a topic and would write the article. You can get paid good money to do that as you work from home.
This is easier said than done. It takes developing your writing skill and creativity. It is the hardest of the three businesses we've discussed. Once you've gotten good at your craft and have developed a large list of clients you could make $15 or more per article. As you develop your speed, you could make $30 an hour or more! It's a lot of work but well worth it if you are a writer at heart.
We've talked about virtual assistant, eBay shop and online writer. These at work at home business bring you extra money, enough to make ends meet and maybe even much more than that. They are easy to get started and don't cost much.
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