“Do The Nike” author:Michael Nicholas source_url:http://www.articlecity.com/articles/online_business/article_1744.shtml date_saved:2007-07-25 12:30:15 category:online_business article:

I should have listened to an internet veteran back in 2000.

Learn from my mistake...

Allan Gardyne, of AssociatePrograms.com told me 3 powerful words that I overlooked as just too broad and simplistic...

And it's important that you hear this too so you won't waste time or make the same mistake I did...

His very words to me in a personal email were...

"Just Get Started"

I remember he went on to say that was the most important thing...

Now I bet that went right through you transparent with about zero impact - just like it hit me too, right?...

But don't let those 3 powerful words disguised as too simplistic fool you...

It took me almost 4 years later to catch-on and wise up. You see, I sat on the sidelines of online marketing far too long...

To me all this marketing stuff seemed like a giant catch 22...

I thought I needed to know a lot more than I knew at the time before I could actually get started... I felt I didn't have enough knowledge, so how could I get it all going???

Freeze - Stop - Do Not Pass Go - & Do Not Collect any Commissions!

As it turns out, I was wrong in hindsight... Because marketing is momentum. It's something you build-on as you go... the snowball effect.

Let me stress that again... "marketing is momentum".

Remember that... And while you DO need to keep expanding your knowledge in different areas - you can start implementing the things you learn as you go.

And you will be surprised because along the way you can start earning commissions while building your marketing momentum. This is something I was late to realize...

Again- learn from my mistake...

Just as an intern becomes a doctor or as we date before the marriage, it should be the same in marketing...

We must practice doing what we want to become... It's an evolution of a process in the making...

Ah... the magic bullet?

Not really... but the closest you will find to it...

So don't just sit on the sidelines... Get out there and do the 'Nike'... Let me explain more...

The typical 'pondering ditch' many seem to fall into... (or should I say 'fail' into)... is that they don't understand that a major part of the success formula is to "just get started".

Heck... I didn't even believe this online marketing thing was real until I saw real commissions congratulate me in my own email box... (and this is something that once it happens you're hooked :>D

However, I once entertained the thought that making a living online was reserved for gurus only ...

Hogwash!

But I had to prove that to myself... And you will too unless you take my word for it which you should simply because it's true.

Your own beliefs can be what's holding you back. But don't let anything stop you because when you are frozen going nowhere, remember there are others making commissions every day, week and every month...

So why can't it be YOU?

The fact is there are people just like you - people you will never get to hear about... but they are out there doing it right now as you are reading this.

Yes, many of them are making their living online quietly...

Now imagine if I had listened to Allan back in 2000?

So what's holding you back?

Well what I have found the hard way is you don't have to wait to get started... You don't even have to write your own ebook or create a membership site or any of that if that's not your thing... You can do affiliate marketing.

But to start profiting online you have to follow these 3 very powerful words of advice...

"Just Get Started" (or like Nike says it, “Just Do It!”)

As soon you make your first sale you’ll be amazed how your commissions will begin to add up... And you’ll find ways to build it from there. No pipe dreams here... this is real.

There are many possibilities so just listen to those 3 powerful words. And if you implement them... you'll finally discover a formula to start your own online marketing business now... not years down the road...

So please don't waste time... "just get started" and learn from my mistake...

Go for it now... it's YOUR success... but don't make it wait any longer than it has to.

Copyright 2005 Impact Info Marketing

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Affiliate Internet Marketing - Making A Success author:Karl Stadler source_url:http://www.articlecity.com/articles/online_business/article_4032.shtml date_saved:2007-07-25 12:30:16 category:online_business article:

So there you are sitting in front of your monitor while the others are all watching the latest soaps. Ad's are filling your screen as you click through them one by one looking for that perfect business opportunity that is going to make you rich beyond your wildest dreams.

Each sales page promises more than the previous and it is really becoming a difficult decision as to exactly how rich you want to be. The headlines scream at you, “Make One Million In 6 months”, “Write Your Own Paycheck”, “The Secret Of Earning Multiple Streams Of Income” and so it goes on.

You become so exited with your new found wealth that you give the dog your prime fillet which you bought an hour ago, knowing that after starting up you will never be looking back while the money pours into your bank account.

If this were true we would have a awful amount of extremely happy dogs not knowing the meaning of dog food, but in reality affiliate marketing is not what it seems.

However that which is stated is not entirely untrue. You can achieve all or many of what is mentioned, but you are not going to do it in 15 minutes per day and on autopilot.

Now, back to reality. How do I do it?

The easiest way starting out as a internet marketer is by being an affiliate for other peoples products. The reasons are quite simple and obvious, you do not need your own website and all the technical jargon associated with it and you don't have to spend money and time creating your own product. All you need to do is drive traffic to the affiliate site, they make the sales, you just pick up your cash.

To find products to promote as a affiliate is not difficult. There are thousands available for you to choose from. Some will charge money to join but most will be free.

As an affiliate marketer the aim is not promoting one product only, it's like putting all your eggs in one basket. Choose about 5 or even more in different areas, ones you find interesting and which you think might be good sellers. Take your time when choosing and read through everything, remember at the end of the day it will be your money driving traffic to that site, make your money work for you.

Here are a few things you need to keep in mind when choosing your affiliate products.

Have a look at when and how they pay you your commissions.

The percentage commission they will be paying you.

Preferably choose ones that pays a high commission and pays into your account as soon as the sale is made. That will keep you from losing money from sales because in many instances you will not be able to track any sales activity.

All that said and done you are now armed to the teeth with affiliate links, the dog is happily eating a prime fillet, so lets get on with it.

The most common way to generate traffic fast is PPC (pay per click). Google adwords is the big dog in town but there are a few others which you can easily find doing a simple search. It's quite easy to sign up and then you are ready to go.

Now the kind people from the affiliate programs you joined have possibly given you keywords that you can just copy and paste into your Google adwords. Now all you need to do is copy and paste them, make your bid and the money will start rolling in.

Here's the bad news, unless you are in business to lose money, this is all you will be doing and the dog will have to revert back to dog food and you to bread and water. Your advertising is going to cost you much more than your income.

This said, you can make it as a affiliate, and you can make a lot of money, you are however going to have to do some work.

Your main aim is to find cheap and underexposed keywords. Lets take a example of Google adwords.

If you copy and paste the keywords given to you, the chances are good that a lot of other affiliates are also using the exact same keywords. So for you to get ad into the top 10 or first page you will need to bid high. Let's say you end up bidding 50 cents for a pretty broad keyword. The product you are selling is selling for $47 of which you receive 50% commission, $23.50 less banking charges. In effect that means that for every 47 clicks you receive you must make one sale to just break even. I can tell you now on a broad keyword you will get 47 clicks but you will not get one sale. To find out how a keyword is performing and converting into sales is to base it on 200 clicks. When reaching that target take a look at the conversion rate, how many clicks per sale. If you have made no sales, or just one, you need to refine your keywords because you are hitting the wrong target market.

Where and how do you find and implement these seemingly elusive keywords. I mean there are only so many words in the English language!

Step 1

Take a good look at the affiliates website you joined, and see what it is that makes this a unique product that customers should have. Now please this answer does not lie in the first words you read on the page, the headline or sub headline. Read through the entire affiliate sales page and find your own unique ideas, be different.

Step two

Now that you have the idea clearly in your mind, think up a few keywords that fit this idea and will relate well to the product you are trying to sell. Come up with a few single words and some two word phrases. Write all of these down until you have about ten or fifteen.

Step Three

You have your adwords account, open the Overture keyword tool and use both of them. You can download Good Keywords for free and it will provide you with an enormous amount of information.

Take your single and two word phrases and combine them into three and four word phrases. Test these in your tools to see how many searches take place and test different combinations of these words until you find the right combination.

Once you have determined good combination keyword phrases, add them to your keyword list in your account. Chances are that you will be able to get into the top 10 easily with the lowest bid.

Target your market with specific targeted 3 and 4 word phrases, they will get you quality clicks, cheaply, with the target market generating sales.

You have heard the term find your niche over and over, but believe me if you are going to try to hit broadly you are going to lose money.

You can be a successful affiliate, but you need to put the time and effort in finding the right target audience for your product. Getting the balance right is the ultimate goal of your business.

Happy Marketing!

Copyright 2006 Karl Stadler

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

"FEED ME!" When Prospects Become Parasites! author:David Badurina source_url:http://www.articlecity.com/articles/online_business/article_2132.shtml date_saved:2007-07-25 12:30:15 category:online_business article:

When you hear the word "leech", most often you think about squiggly, squirmy, slimy little bloodsuckers that don't really offer you very much in return for using your body as a twisted sort of beer-tap. After all, that's what leeches do, and while they have practical applications (such as assisting in the re-attachment of various appendages - eeeeewwwww), for the most part, these are creatures that you're better off avoiding. If for no other reason than they're just really creepy members of the animal kingdom.

In business, leeches exist as well. Both in human form, and in an intangible form. "Resource leech" is a term often used in the programming industry to describe an application on your computer that somehow saps it of every bit of energy. "Resource leeches" in the business world are people or things that take up huge amounts of your time without offering you anything in return. And they are downright dangerous.

When you deprive your business of YOU, you might as well be draining your business' life blood indefinitely. Resource leeches do that. By no means should you abandon good customer service at any time, but that doesn't mean that you can't realize a situation where someone is taking advantage of your kindness and sapping your business of precious energy. A resource leech doesn't necessarily have to be a customer - after all, many great business relationships are created with people that have never bought a thing from you, and perhaps never will. A resource leech will, however, keep taking your time and energy as long as you're offering it.

Here are three common signs of a resource leech:

Being repeatedly queried about free giveaways, free resources, and anything else attached to that four-letter word.

Getting drilled with off-topic questions not related to your products, services or business, even though it may have started that way.

Individuals intent on actively discussing everything with you, regardless of the availability of the information elsewhere.

While all three of those might be considered mere nuisances, consider the consequences of their constant presence. By allowing someone to latch on and drain your time and productivity, you're not gaining anything. There comes a point where you stand to lose - and lose big. Real squiggly, squirmy, slimy little bloodsuckers can be removed by lighting them on fire, or pouring salt on them. The trick here is that you can't exactly do that to someone who's only offense is asking you lots of questions through email.

Here are three ways you can deal with resource leeches, without setting them on fire or pouring salt on them:

Make the meal short! Answer questions directly and efficiently. Don't compose emails for hours and over-indulge someone who's simply looking to squeeze information from you.

Offer alternatives! Point them in the direction of resources that they may not know are available. This not only saves you from having your business sucked dry, but it's also fantastic customer service, and is a winning situation for everyone. Comprehensive FAQ pages and forums are perfect examples.

Backbone! If someone is continually asking for freebies, or free copies of your products and is not willing to have any sort of alternate exchange, it's okay to say no. Reasonable people understand that when you're running a business, you can't afford to run it without gaining income in return. Explaining this kindly is one way to give great customer service, and get your point across.

Using variations of these simple techniques is an easy way to deal with your productivity being drained from your business into the razor-sharp maw of the bloodsucking resource leech. Now, if none of it happens to work, and a resource leech is still determined to stick around, just be increasingly firm in standing up for yourself and your business.

If that still doesn't work, try not to resort to setting them on fire and throwing salt on them.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

10 Easier Ways Than SEO To Get Web Site Traffic author:Joe McVoy source_url:http://www.articlecity.com/articles/online_business/article_3727.shtml date_saved:2007-07-25 12:30:15 category:online_business article:

Everyone wants "organic" or "free" traffic, but it’s a full time job to try to keep on top of the search engines changing rules. Instead, if you build a good content-rich site and do the things on this list, you’ll get traffic and help your ranking at the same time.

1. Use Pay-Per-Click (PPC) - Get traffic in an hour with PPC. Google and Overture (now Yahoo). Don't bother with others until you make these two work. The key to this is to know your visitor value, bid on hundreds of key words and phrases and split test your ads and track each key word, phrase or ad separately.

2. Distribute Your Content - write articles of value to your target market. Distribute that content for other webmasters to use on their sites as long as they keep the link back to you in a "resource box" at the end of each article. Distribute your articles through article directories, ezines, and distribution services. The key to make this work is valuable content.

3. Submit Press Releases - submit electronic press releases frequently with news of interest to the media and your target market. Since press releases are news, if they get picked up, it will be quickly and you may get hundreds of links back to your site this way. Key to make this work: write 300 - 500 word releases, include a link back to you, and have them written and distributed by experts who know how to optimize each release for key words (not typical PR firms).

4. Set Up a Blog with RSS - to be effective, blogs must have frequently updated content. Base yours on information helpful to your customers, not sales pitches. Don’t do it unless you can commit some ongoing time to it. Seth Godin says the keys to a successful blog are: Candor, Urgency, Timeliness, Pithiness (short & to the point), and Controversy. The key to making this work is to make it interesting to your visitors, submit to blog directories, ping the search engines when you post and distribute your content with RSS.

5. Get One-Way Incoming Links - All the previous tips will create incoming, one-way links but you can also buy links from other sites from text link brokers. Don’t do reciprocal linking, it’s dead. Make sure you get links from pages with a Google Page Rank higher than "0". A site Google rates as "0" may be because they are penalizing it for some reason. If you link to it, you'll get penalized too.

The key to making this work: Make sure links have your key words in the anchor text and make sure they are text, not graphical links. Make sure they are from other relevant sites, not link farms or FFA (Free for All) sites. The ideal is links from relevant pages without many other links.

6. Give Other Sites Your Testimonial - let them publish it on their web site as long as they link back to you. This can get you a one-way link from a site that would otherwise not give it to you. The key to make this work: keep it short and to the point.

7. Email Promotions - Advertise in Ezines, place ads in someone else’s email newsletters that reach your target market. The key to make this work: track everything carefully

8. Joint Ventures - Get promoted to your JV partner’s customer database by your JV partner. John Reese sold over $1 Million of his information product in 24 hours exclusively by using joint venture promotions from his partners sending his offer to their customer lists. He paid his partners commissions on sales. The key to make this work: know your visitor value and have a tested and proven sales page that converts well BEFORE you contact JV prospects.

9. Get Affiliates - If selling a product, offer a commission to affiliates to sell for you. Each affiliate’s link to your sales letter conversion page will bring you traffic and a better search engine rank too. The key to making this work is to make it financially attractive to your affiliates and give them everything they need to promote your product or service. Make it brain dead easy for them to do.

10. Buy Other Web Sites - Find web sites that already rank high on your keywords and verify their traffic with the site owner and independent tools. Make sure you get ownership of the domain - you can let them still use their content elsewhere. Check deleteddomains.com to see what domains you can register for a few dollars that their owners have let expire. The key to making this work: Check Google page rank, Alexa rank and the number of back links for any site before you buy a web site.

One marketer I know challenged some SEO experts to see who could get ranked highest on a given term in 24 hours. He won, the techies did a lot of slick things, but the marketer just bought the site that was already # 1.

Copyright 2006 Joe McVoy

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

10 First Rate Tips To Getting More Ezine Subscribers author:Ken Hill source_url:http://www.articlecity.com/articles/online_business/article_559.shtml date_saved:2007-07-25 12:30:14 category:online_business article:

1. Submit your ezine to ezine directories.

Ezine directories attract people interested in subscribing to ezines that provide them with information about their interests such as marketing, affiliate programs, gardening, or staying healthy.

In addition, ezine directories will help you to find people to buy advertising in your publication as well as other publishers who would like to swap ads or do a joint venture with you.

2. Promote your ezine in your signature file. Include a couple lines of promotion for your ezine in addition to the other information in your sig file.

3. Add a subscription box for your ezine on every page of your site. This will ensure that whatever page your visitors enter your site from, they will be able learn about your ezine and subscribe to your publication.

4. Provide a bonus for subscribing to your ezine such as an ebook, report, tutorial, marketing course, or access to your subscriber's only membership site.

Mention your bonus when promoting your ezine on your site, in your signature file, and when submitting your publication to ezine directories.

5. Buy classified ads or sponsor ads for your publication in ezines that you are already subscribed to and enjoy reading.

Also search ezine directories for ezines that reach your target market and offer reasonable advertising rates.

6. Swap ads with other ezine publishers. Be specific when asking for your ad swap. Clearly define where you will place the other publisher's ad and ask the other publisher to place the same ad for you.

Also ask for confirmation of your ad and a copy of the issue your ad will run in, and provide the other publisher with a copy of her ad and a copy of the issue you run her ad in.

To get the most out of your swaps trying swapping ads for at least 3 issues in a row and track your swaps, so that you will be able to pinpoint which ads and ezines give you the best response.

7. Use your articles to promote your ezine. Add a resource box that advertises your ezine to articles that you've written and run in your ezine or write articles specifically for promoting your ezine.

Next submit your articles to other ezine publishers, to article directories, and to article announcement lists.

8. Use autoresponders to promote your ezine to your visitors. Make sample issues of your ezine available by autoresponder or use your autoresponders to create an archive of all your past issues.

9. Publish testimonials/endorsements for your ezine on your site. If you've received tons of these for your ezine, use an autoresponder to deliver them to your visitors.

10. Swap recommendations with other ezine publishers. You could swap recommendations where the other publisher puts her recommendation of your ezine in her own words while you do the same for her.

You could also publish a recommended ezines section if you wanted to swap recommendations with several other ezines interested in swapping recommendations with each other.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

10 Easy Ways to Increase Your Sales by 3317% author:Duane Marx source_url:http://www.articlecity.com/articles/online_business/article_2092.shtml date_saved:2007-07-25 12:30:15 category:online_business article:

This article will show you 10 easy ways to increase your sales. Try some of these techniques and watch your sales soar. You’ll want to test everything you do to find out what works the best for your products. So let’s get started.

‘Great Headline’ - Increase sales up to (1700%). You must have an attention grabbing headline or your prospects will move on to a different website in a matter of seconds. And all the work you put into the rest of your sales page is wasted because people won’t be reading it. So it is very important to spend a lot of time and effort into creating excellent headlines and sub-headlines. Study the pros, brush up on your copywriting skills, and invest in some e-books on writing headlines.

‘Strong Guarantee’ - Increase sales up to (400%). You should have a strong guarantee for all your products. Only offer products that you really believe in and you will have a smaller amount of returns. Have a rock solid, no questions asked, 100% money back guarantee and you will sell more products because your customers will feel safe buying from you. And the longer the guarantee the more sales you’ll make. Now some people will return your products but with the longer guarantee and the increase in sales you can afford to have a few returns.

‘Pop-Ups’ - Increase sales up to (300%). You can use a pop-up when people visit your website to tempt them to join your newsletter. Or have an exit pop-up when they leave. You can offer a discount here if you like or maybe offer a freebie to collect their names and email address to use later. Another technique would be to ask them why they are leaving. Offer them a free gift if they fill out a survey and you’ll be able to use this information to improve your future sales.

‘Testimonials’ - Increase sales up to (250%). It will increase your sales if you use testimonials because it will add creditability to your products. If you are buying something online from someone for the first time there’s no way of knowing if you’ll receive a good product. So it’s always easier to make that final decision about buying from someone if you can read a testimonial or two from people who have already purchased the same product.

‘Backend Products’ - Increase sales up to (250%). This should be a very good way to make lots of extra money. After someone buys your product, or joins your newsletter, you will add them to your list. It will always be easier to sell to someone that has purchased from you before. Send them an email that promotes one of your products and have links that will take them to your sales page or to your affiliate’s sales page. Also be sure to send them valuable free information whenever you can to help keep them on your list.

‘3D Graphical Image of your Product’ - Increase sales up to (200%). If you’re selling a physical product then be sure to include a photo. But it’s even more important when selling a digital or information product to include a graphical image. You will receive the most sales if you do. People just like to see a physical representation of the product they are buying. You may want to hire someone to design it for you.

‘Accepting Credit Cards’ - Increase sales up to (100%). Make sure that you accept credit cards because 90% of all transactions online will be made with them. But you should also consider other options as well like accepting checks, money orders, and debit cards. And if you have a PayPal account you can accept international orders and different currencies. The more ways you can collect money on your website the more sales you’ll make.

‘Asking for the Order’ - Increase sales up to (80%). If you don’t ask for the order you will be losing a lot of sales. So remember to always to ask for the order. And have a few places where your prospects can order your products. You always want to make it easy for them to buy. By having more order links on your sales page they’ll be able to buy whenever the urge strikes them.

‘Welcome Page’ - Increase sales up to (37%). When someone joins your newsletter have them go to a welcome page. You can explain the basics of your newsletter and have an offer for a product. It could be for one of your products or an affiliate one. Whenever you expose people to more of your products your sales will increase.

‘Bonuses’ - Increase sales up to (?%). This is a biggie. Want to add more value to your products and make more sales? Just keep piling on the bonuses until your offer is just too good to refuse. They say you should have your bonuses add up to 7 times the value of the product you’re selling. Some people will actually buy your product just to receive the bonuses if they are good enough. So make sure you only offer valuable ones. And make sure the free bonuses are directly related to your original product.

Don’t forget to test everything you do to find out what works the best for your products.

One of the best possible ways to seriously increase your sales would be to invest and study copywriting. Because with your improved copywriting skills all of your ads, headlines, sales pages, emails and marketing campaigns will improve dramatically. This means more people reading your ads, visiting your websites and buying your products. So I strongly suggest that you invest your time and money in learning and improving your copywriting and marketing skills, you’ll be glad you did.

Copyright 2005 Duane Marx

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.