The easiest business to start on the internet is an affiliate business. You don't need a product because you have thousands of products available to you. All you need is a website idea.
There are no products to stock, you don't have to do your own customer service. All you have to do is promote the product.
On the other hand, starting an affiliate business can be the hardest type of business to start. You are competing against hundreds, maybe even thousands of other affiliates. You need a competitive edge to help you make more sales and distinguish yourself from other affiliates.
Below are seven solutions for helping you develop the ultimate affiliate business and make more sales.
1. Link Cloaking
There are advantages and disadvantages to cloaking your links.
The major advantage is that it protects your commissions. Visitors to your site won't know exactly where the link goes so they can't hijack your commissions.
The major disadvantage is that the search engines have a problem with redirects. They will reject any redirect that doesn't go where it is supposed to.
You can solve that with the right link cloaker. Free Link Cloaker - http://click-4-more.com/on/Free-Link-Cloaker.html - is a tool that you can set up on your site to cloak your links that your commissions don't get hijacked. It's very easy to use, and it will make it look like the page is on your site.
This cloaker is also very similar to many products you see on the internet selling for $59 or more.
2. Keyword Search
Before developing your site, or planning any marketing campaigns, you need to make sure that you choose the right keywords. Choose the wrong keywords, and your marketing plan will fail.
Niche Keywords - http://www.easytoolbox.com/cgi-bin/keywords/nichekeywords.cgi - will help you find the right keywords for marketing your business, as well as optimizing your site for the search engines.
3. Affiliate Program Search
Finding the right affiliate programs for your new business is crucial. You want to create multiple income streams, as well as different combinations of programs.
These programs include one time sales, as well as recurring commissions on products like memberships. You can also earn commissions for referring others to services.
Something to keep in mind when choosing your affiliate programs is that you want to look for programs that pay high commissions. You don't want to waste your efforts promoting a program where you only get a few dollars for a lot of hard work.
These two sites will help you find affiliate programs, as well as alert you to new programs as they become available.
http://www.websitemarketingtactics.com/blog/2005/04/affiliates-alert-free-software.html
http://www.associateprograms.com/search/free-software.shtml
4. Affiliate Program Management
You will make a lot more money from your affiliate programs if you track and manage your programs, as well as track and manage your commissions.
This will help you see what programs work best for you, and what is selling the best. Then you can concentrate on promoting those programs.
Personal Affiliate Manager - http://www.georgecain.com/PersonalAffiliateManager.htm - is a free software that will not only keep track of all of your affiliate programs, it will help you find new ones.
You can also use it to track your commissions and keep records of the money that you have made. This software will also create affiliate reports for you, and it's free.
5. Landing Pages
If you promote using any type of Adwords program, or you have a direct response site where you are building a list, then you need some type of software or online tool to help you build your landing pages. This is especially important if you don't know anything about HTML.
Landing Page Builder - http://www.landingpagebuilder.com - this is a donationware software. This means that if you like the software, you can make a donation to help the program owner.
The beauty of this software is that you can use it to help you build landing pages, and you can build as many as you want.
Google Publisher - http://www.googlepublisher.com/index.html - This online tool allows you to build pages that have Google Adsense already incorporated into the page. All you have to do is add your Google Adsense Publisher ID.
This is especially helpful if you have a MAC instead of a PC because you can build your pages online. Also, you don't need a website.
The free version allows you to build about 200 pages, but you don't get to add your Google Adsense ID. The paid version, which is insanely cheap, allows you to build as many landing pages as you like.
6. Website Building
If you really want to succeed as an affiliate, you need to build a content rich, keyword rich website.
If you don't know HTML, this can really be a problem.
These two tools will help you with building your website, as well as finding content for your site.
Orwell - http://www.portalfeeder.com/blog/ - Orwell searches the article directories for you to help you find keyword rich articles on your topic. It will format the articles into HTML for you, and all you have to do is copy and paste the code. It will also tell you the keyword density of the article.
Easy Web Page Creator - http://www.easy-web-page-creator.com/ - is a piece of free software that you can use to build web pages for your site with only a few mouse clicks.
7. List Building
List building is absolutely crucial for affiliates. By building a list, this will give you an opportunity to market to your potential customers repeatedly, allowing you to raise the conversion on sales.
The best tool for list building is an autoresponder. An autoresponder will handle all of the tedious tasks like managing your lists and handling subscribes and unsubscribes.
Two free services:
http://www.getresponse.com
http://www.sendfree.com
I would also recommend that you check out this site. Anthony Tomei offers an excellent tool for affiliates, and you can also get some great resources for your affiliate marketing on this site. They all free.
http://www.gurupal.com
Let me caution you here, the problem with a free service is that they put ads for other products in your headers and footers. You want to upgrade as soon as you possibly can.
Starting an affiliate business can be easy. Plan your website carefully, offer valuable content, and differentiate yourself from other affiliates. Implement these tools in your affiliate business and watch your commissions rise.
January 29, 2007
Top 7 Tools for Affiliates
Starting an Online Home Business - Affiliate Programs Make it Easy
If you have been longing to start a home business online you may be coming across terms you've never heard before. You may also have found the opportunities available are overwhelming. Where do you begin?
AFFILIATE PROGRAMS - EASY START
Affiliate programs may be the easiest online home business to start running. Why?
With any online home business you must have a product or service to sell. First you must create this product or service and then you must be able to fill orders.
Selling your own product or service also means creating a website, learning how to write ad copy, setting up a marketing plan, being able to accept payments online and obviously doing the work. If you're selling a physical product then you will need to make or buy the item, package it and pay for shipping costs. If you provide a service than you will likely have to start by doing free jobs to build your credibility and then when you are charging for your service you are still limited by how much work you can actually handle.
THE MAGIC OF AFFILIATE PROGRAMS
Affiliate programs are a great way to get started in an online home business. In fact there are even some 'Super Affiliates' who are making fabulous incomes from affiliate programs. So, what ARE affiliate programs?
Affiliate programs allow you to sell another company's service or product and make a commission on every sale or lead. You do not even need to build a website or handle the transaction. Your job is to drive traffic (customers) to your affiliate link.
An affiliate link is a special URL code that will identify customers coming to the company's site from your advertising. It will likely be the website address with a code attached to the end.
Some affiliate programs also have tiers. That means if someone who is interested in SELLING the product comes through your link and signs up you will also get a small percentage of THEIR earnings.
HOW DO I CHOOSE A PROGRAM?
You should research the popularity of some of your interests. Try to determine if people are buying that product or service online. There are many sources for finding that information including free ones such as the Overture keyword tool.
When you have found an area that is popular then type the subject along with 'affiliate program' into your search engine and see which programs have services or products for that area. You can also use an affiliate program directory.
When you have found a program that looks interesting you should read the terms of the program. Make sure that payouts are not based on a high commission earning or you may never see your money. Also try to choose programs with high commission rates. Often you will find ebooks and downloadable software has the highest rates as there is no physical product to make or ship. If you are satisfied with the terms then you need to sign up - usually a simple process.
START MARKETING
The reason affiliate programs are so great for beginners is that you only need to focus on marketing - not making - your product.
Many affiliate programs have information on how to market and give you tools such as banners, product feeds and more. You can also look for other information on marketing including writing articles, creating pay-per-click campaigns, commenting in online forums etc. As you gain experience marketing you will make adjustments to your selling and start creating a wonderful income!
How to Make a living as an affiliate
95% of all affiliates make $0 - $100 a year. I don't know about you, but in my books, this is not a living. In this quick “How To” guide, we'll take a look at how you can become part of the 5% who ARE making their living online. This guide does not guarantee that you'll make a fortune, but it will point you in the right direction if you're interested in making a living as an affiliate.
1. Mindset: Get in touch with your grey matter. Program your mind with positive, committed thoughts. If you can believe it,you can achieve it. It sounds a bit like a sales seminar, but bottom line is, if you don't believe you can make a living online, you won't. You have to be committed. Commit to yourself that you will develop an income online – no matter what it takes. Think of your business as a bacon and eggs breakfast. The chicken was involved, the pig was committed!
2. Viewpoint: This is your business. Once you've accomplished your first hurdle and committed yourself to making this work, you have to look at your business from the proper viewpoint. No rose coloured glasses here. This is your business. You are the CEO of your own marketing company. You can choose to offer your services to one or several companies. Bottom line, you are responsible for every action in your company. Every decision you make affects your bottom line.
3. Learning Curve: Expect it. Becoming an affiliate is like going to college or university. You start at the beginning, learn the basics and build on what you learn. Take it step-by-step and you'll build a much stronger business. Think of it like becoming a doctor. One doesn't decide to become a doctor with the expectation of opening a successful practice one week from now. It takes time to learn the products or services you're marketing and it takes time to learn to run your business.
4. Budget: Time and money. Set a general budget for both. As a business owner, you'll use plenty of time developing and promoting your affiliate business. Budget as much time as you can each day and make sure you use your time wisely. Set up a budget for your monetary expenses too. You can run a business online with a shoestring budget, just don't expect a mammoth income in the beginning. The more you can invest in your business, the better. This doesn't mean that simply throwing money at your business will make it grow. Every dollar that goes out your door, needs to come back in and bring another dollar with it.
5. Goals: s/he shoots - s/he scores! Your goals will get you through the tough times. There'll be lots of days when you feel like quitting. If you make your goals tangible, you'll make it through the tough days. Money isn't a motivator, but what money can buy, is. Set your goals for a family vacation, a new car, boat, or home. It's much easier to get excited about a shiny red corvette in your driveway than $100,000 sitting in your bank account. Money is only numbers on a piece of paper or a computer screen, but it can bring you a luxurious lifestyle, and that's where the fun is.
6. Nuts and Bolts: Once you've got your house in order, with the proper mindset, you're looking at your business from a realistic viewpoint, you've got an open mind and you're ready to learn, you've set aside some time and money and you've got pictures of your dream house, car and vacation plastered on your wall, you're ready to go hunting. The next step is to find a business that interests you and offers an affiliate program with a reasonable commission. For information products, one of the most popular and profitable online, you can and should expect a commission of 25% or more.
Pick a product that interests you. Buy it and use it. Your business is based on your recommendations of a product or service. If you haven't used it, how can you recommend it? Avoid running around in circles after the newest, hottest selling product of the day, it only leaves you dizzy and broke.
Choose a product you're interested in. If you like astronomy, becoming an affiliate of a star chart company may be a good fit. Selling women's pantyhose may not.
7. Look before you leap: Finding a company to represent as an affiliate is one thing, finding a company that respects its affiliates is another. Do a bit of research before you jump on the bandwagon. Send an email to the company as if you're a potential customer. 24 – 48 hours is a good response time. This shows that someone is actually running the company. It also gives you an idea of their commitment. Generally, the faster the response, the more committed the company is to doing business. The quality of the response is also important.Did the response answer your question? Was it written in a friendly, professional manor? Did they answer your question directly or simply send you to a FAQ sheet?
8. Flip the switch: If everything checks out up to this point,then your next step is to take action. Fill out the affiliate application form and get your affiliate URL. Now the ball is in your court. It's time to get down to brass tacks. If you freeze now, you make no money and flush your goals down the toilet. If you take action, you make it one step closer to your goals.
9. If you build it – they will come: OK not really, but you do have to build it. If you want to maximize your income and be taken seriously, you need to own a website. Just like a brick and mortar business, you need a professional location to offer your products. Yes, you get an affiliate URL when you sign up as an affiliate, but promoting an affiliate link looks amateur and will help you LOSE 98% of your sales. We'll cover this in point 10.
10. Follow-up = Sales: Only 2% of your prospects will sign up or buy what you're offering, on their first visit. 98% of your sales will be made from your follow up. There's a very simple method for following up and making sales automatically.
i. Check your favourite search engine to locate a free ebook, software program or report that relates to your offer. If you're promoting a website that sells peanut butter, a free peanut butter recipe book would be a good match. Your give-away must always relate to the product you're promoting to maximize the results of this system.
ii. Build a page on your website to give away your free peanut butter recipe book. Design the page as if you were designing a sales page. Make people's mouths water until they want the recipes so bad they'd gladly pay for them, but then give it to them free. All they have to do is fill in their name and email address in the simple form and you'll send their recipe book to them instantly via email.
iii. As soon as your peanut butter prospect fills out the form on your site and clicks the send button, they are taken to your affiliate URL where they can buy peanut butter. At the same time, the peanut butter recipe book is sent to their email address.
iv. Now your peanut butter prospect receives an email from you each week with new tips and useful peanut butter information. This information positions you as a peanut butter expert and gives you the opportunity to promote your peanut butter affiliate website once a week, to hot prospects. This is where you'll make 98% of your sales.
Although this may seem like an overwhelming amount of work for the beginner, it's all very simple. The whole process is run from an autoresponder, a simple piece of email software that automatically sends your prewritten email messages on a predetermined schedule.
Your success as an affiliate is determined by you. 95% of the people that read this simple How To guide will do nothing with it. 5% of the people that read this guide will put all the pieces in place and start making a living as an affiliate. You have to decide which side of the coin you want to be on.
Google Adsense Profits Mixed In With Affiliate Marketing
Why Affiliate Marketing?
Well, simply because affiliate marketing is the easiest and probably the best way to earn profits online, unless otherwise you are a businessman and would rather sell your own products online than advertise other businessman’s products on your site. But even online retailers can benefit from affiliate marketing programs, because affiliate marketing actually works for merchants as well as it works for the affiliates.
Affiliate marketing, simply said, is a relationship or agreement made between two websites, with one site being the merchant’s website and the other being the affiliate’s site. In the relationship, the affiliate agrees to let the merchant advertise his products on the affiliate’s site. The merchant, on the other hand, would agree to pay the affiliate in whatever method they have agreed into. This would generally mean easy income for the affiliate, as he would do nothing but place the retailer’s ad on his site. This would also be very beneficial for the merchant, as getting affiliates to advertise their products would be a lot more affordable than hiring an advertising firm to promote their products.
There are a variety of methods on how the merchant would compensate the affiliate for his services, and for the webmaster, these methods simply translates to the method by which he would earn easy cash. Among the more common methods of compensation are the pay-per-click method, the pay-per-lead method, and the pay-per-sale method. The pay-per-click method is the method most preferred by affiliates, for their site’s visitor would only have to visit the advertiser’s site for them to gain money. The other two methods, on the other hand, are better preferred by merchants, as they would only have to compensate you if your visitor becomes one of their registrants or if the visitor would actually buy their products.
Getting much profit on affiliate marketing programs, however, does not depend so much on the compensation method is it does on the traffic generated by your site. A website that can attract more visitors would generally have the greater chance of profiting in affiliate marketing programs.
What about Google Adsense?
Google Adsense is actually some sort of an affiliate marketing program. In Google Adsense, Google act as the intermediary between the affiliates and the merchants. The merchant, or the advertiser, would simply sign up with Google and provide the latter with text ads pertaining to their products. These ads, which is actually a link to the advertiser’s website, would then appear on Google searches as well as on the websites owned by the affiliates, or by those webmasters who have signed up with the Google Adsense program.
While one can find a lot of similarities between Google Adsense and other affiliate marketing programs, you can also see a lot of differences. In Google Adsense, all the webmaster has to do is place a code on his website and Google takes care of the rest. The ads that Google would place on your site would generally be relevant to the content of your site. This would be advantageous both for you and for the advertiser, as the visitors of your site would more or less be actually interested with the products being advertised.
The Google Adsense program compensates the affiliate in a pay-per-click basis. The advertisers would pay Google a certain amount each time their ad on your site is clicked and Google would then forward this amount to you through checks, although only after Google have deducted their share of the amount. Google Adsense checks are usually delivered monthly. Also, the Google Adsense program provides webmasters with a tracking tool that allows you to monitor the earnings you actually get from a certain ad.
So, where do all of these lead us to?
Where else but to profits, profits and even more profits! Affiliate marketing programs and the Google Adsense program simply work, whether you are the merchant or the affiliate. For the merchant’s side, a lot of money can be saved if advertising effort is concentrated on affiliate marketing rather than on dealing with advertising firms. For the webmaster, you can easily gain a lot of profits just by doing what you do best, and that is by creating websites. And if you combine all your profits from both the Google Adsense program and other affiliate marketing programs, it would surely convert to a large amount of cash.
It always takes two. Two people to dance, smooch and love even make money. Find out what I did to market on the internet. www.RightChange4u.com
January 28, 2007
How Can I 'Really' Make Money Online?
This is the age old question. Funny to think that anything about the internet could be 'age old' but here it is.
Ever since there was an internet for us all to use, people have been trying to profit from it. Many people have succeed, many are still trying.
There are plenty of scams out there promising you instant riches for only 137. The seller of this scam will show you proof that his method works by revealing his bank account. Of course this works for him, he's selling the scam. His bank account is not proof that his ideas will make you rich. It is only proof that he is willing to cheat you out of your money. Why wouldn't he be rich, he is collecting 137 a pop to tell his story.
What is his story? Probably something like, create an ebook, market it and watch the money grow. He will tell you that in order for you to create your ebook, you will need his 97 ebook software program. To market your ebook, you will have to buy his 197 marketing plan. It's as simple as that. Wow, are you rich yet. No, but he sure is!
This is very much like the old mail order scams about stuffing envelopes. How many people fell for that trick? How does that scam work? Well you pay someone 24.95 for their informative booklet on mail order profits. When you get the booklet, you find out that in order for you to make money in mail order, you have to get people to send you 24.95 for your informative booklet on mail order profits. Sound familiar?
The only difference between that old scam and the new internet scams is the price. The idea is the same, it just costs you a lot more to get ripped off online.
So is there really any way for an honest person to make a legitimate income online?
Yes there is!
It won't be overnight and it won't be effortless. It takes time and work to build a business anywhere. Why would the internet be any different? If anyone tries to tell you different they are lying to you. They are just trying to get you to buy their informative booklet, translated = ebook.
If you want to build a business, you will have to be willing to work, research and be patient. Nothing happens instantly and no one is going to hand you the silver tablet with all the answers.
There is a lot of writing that goes into an online business. You have to write website content. You have to write a newsletter or ezine. You have to write articles. If you hate to write, you are looking into the wrong business.
Yes, you will find people who will sell you the special program that will allow you to get rich without any writing. The problem is, how did you find out about that program? The seller wrote a sales letter. Hmm... sounds like writing to me. And remember what we already talked about? There is no super software that will make you rich overnight. If someone were to create such a program, do you think you would be able to buy it for one hundred and thirty seven dollars? Hardly.
Let's stay on track here.
To build an online business, you will have to own a website. To create this website, you will have to research a topic and write about it. You will have to buy a domain name, (this is cheap and you only pay once a year). You will need to find a good hosting company to host your site. This can be pretty inexpensive if you look around. This is a monthly expense that you will have to be able to afford before you even consider building a website.
Once you have your site built and online, your next job will be to let the world know you are there. This is the biggest job there is. It is a never ending task. No one will even know your site exists if you don't work on promoting it. Many people will try to sell you information on marketing too. There is plenty of free information out there all you have to do is look for it.
Finally, once you have your site up and running, you have people coming to your site, you will need a product or products to sell or what was the point? The easiest way to get products is through affiliate programs. These programs will allow you to sell someone else's product and make commission off your sales. You don't have to stock anything, you don't have to collect money and you don't have to deal with shipping.
There are many good companies out there that offer nice commissions on their products. It really doesn't matter what you decide to create your website about. You will find someone selling something that will compliment your site.
So, back to the original question. How can I 'really' make money online? The answer is by working at it. Put your pie in the sky dreams away and start writing.
About the author Margaret Albright is the webmaster and editor for the website Know It All Affiliates, http://www.knowitallaffiliates.com/niche.htm Teaching you, step by step, how to create your internet empire.
Article Source: http://ArticlesReprint.com
7 Ways to Drive More Targeted Traffic to Your Website
Copyright 2006 Alicia M Forest and ClientAbundance.com
Unfortunately, when it comes to your website, the "if you build it, they will come" strategy just doesn't work. Fortunately, there are several ways to drive high-quality traffic to your website for little to no cost. The following 7 strategies will show you how:
1. Optimize your site for the search engines.
You'd have to be a fulltime search engine optimization expert to keep up with all the changes the major search engines make, but there are a few basic things you can do to help your site come up for relevant searches. Here are some to get you started:
a. Define your keywords - this is how people will find your business online. The trick is to find keywords that are highly relevant to what you offer and popular enough that they will attract decent traffic to your site, but not so competitive that you can't rank well using them. Use your keywords in your web page copy.
b. Create your metatags - this is how the search engines "read" your site. Put your keywords in your metatags on each page of your website.
c. Don't use lots of graphics or Flash, frames, or "alt" tags in HTML for pictures - search engines don't like them because it makes it hard for them to "read" your site.
d. Submit your site to the search engines (see #2).
e. Get links to your site - create a page in your website and call it either resources or links and add GOOD links, meaning relevant links. Linking is the second biggest indicator of how your site is ranked.
2. Submit your site to the search engines.
Why wait for the search engines' robots or spiders to find you? Submit your website (it's best if you submit every page individually) to at least these three major search engines manually. It's easy and only takes a minute.
Submit your web pages to:
Yahoo at http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html
Google at http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl
DMoz at http://www.dmoz.com/add.html
3. Use pay-per-click advertising.
Google Adwords or Yahoo Overture both offer pay-per-click advertising options. You can create a ppc campaign for a very small investment, and because you have complete control over your budget, you can set it for whatever amount you feel comfortable with. It's very difficult to get to the top of the "organic" search results (on the left side of the search results page) but can be very easy to get on the first page of results with a PPC, bringing targeted traffic to you. The best part is you only pay when someone clicks your ad that takes them to your website.
I've been told that Overture is actually easier to learn for a beginner, but I personally use Adwords. I spend less than $50 a month on my Google campaigns at the moment and it consistently brings visitors to my website who are interested in what I have to offer.
4. Place or swap ads with other ezines in your niche.
Seek out other ezines in your niche whose publishers might be interested in swapping ads. They can either be formals ads, or just a recommendation within the content of the ezine itself. I've used this strategy myself, with the result being lots of new visitors to my website and new subscribers to my ezine.
In addition to or instead of swapping ads, you could also purchase ad space in an ezine in your niche that has a large circulation. If you pay to place an ad, I usually suggest running it for a minimum of three consecutive issues for the best results.
5. Be a bonus participant.
You're probably aware of the tactic of adding valuable bonuses to your offerings to encourage people to buy. As a traffic-building technique, you could do the same for someone else's product offering. For example, when Andrea Lee released her second edition of "Multiple Streams of Coaching Income" print book, one of my audio products was offered as a bonus to those who bought the book. I received loads of new visitors to my website and had a nice spike in ezine subscribers as well as a result.
6. Become an "ask the expert" on a high-traffic website in your niche.
Seek out websites that are information portals for your niche, and see if they offer an "ask the expert" section (and if they don't, you could always suggest they do). Offer your services as an expert, to answer questions from their visitors about the challenges they face.
For example, I'm the online marketing expert at www.womans-net.com, and I get targeted traffic from people visiting that site.
7. Be an active participant on a large discussion list in your niche.
Research and join a handful of discussion lists in your niche, and schedule time every week to check in and see if you can offer any valuable advice to the conversation. Be careful to follow the list rules about promoting your website, though. Most lists are intended to be a place where people can ask for help without worrying about being sold to. However, most lists also allow you a couple of lines in your email signature where you can promote your business. Use this space to point people in the direction of your website.
These 7 ways of attracting targeted traffic to your website are tried-and true, meaning they do work. You may have to do a bit of thirsty work, and give it some time, but the end result will be more high-quality traffic to your online business.
Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & Coach , & Founder of http://www.ClientAbundance.com , teaches coaches, consultants, online entrepreneurs and solo professionals to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve.
For FREE tips on how to create abundance in your business, visit http://www.ClientAbundance.com
Article Source: http://ArticlesReprint.com
MarketingScoop - The 7 Secrets of Internet Marketing
If you're marketing on the Internet, you need to understand the importance of media, audience, messaging, and offers. Additionally, the timing of your marketing campaign is essential for optimal response.
Many marketers have been shifting their marketing budgets to the web over the past few years. Marketing online allows you to target specific audiences and easily track return on investment, commonly referred to as ROI. Unlike traditional marketing methods, results of Internet marketing campaigns are almost immediate.
To be successful at Internet marketing, you must understand the essential secrets of Internet marketing. They include:
1. Website Directory Listings. Before you begin any marketing campaign, make sure that the website you're promoting has been listed in the common directories such as DMOZ, Yahoo!, and Google. Even if you're using a marketing page off of the root directory of your website, be sure that the primary site is listed. This ensures that prospects can continue to find your marketing pages long after you've launched your campaign.
2. Generating Traffic. In order to realize a return on your investment, you need to generate traffic to your marketing pages. There are a number of ways to do so online. Some of the most popular include Google AdSense, Overture, and Looksmart. Other methods include affiliate programs and targeted website advertising. Research other websites that have the audience you're looking for and negotiate favorable ad rates for your online marketing campaign.
3. Marketing Pages. Don't lead prospective purchasers to a generic website. If you do, potential buyers won't know what to do next. The easier you make if for prospects to take advantage of your offer, the better. Whenever creating a marketing campaign online, provide a specific page for leading purchasers to your product or service or a billboard that showcases the offer. Take the guess work out of making a purchase and more consumers will buy.
4. Testimonials. Customer testimonials are the most powerful way to sell your product or service. When consumers hear from those who have purchased and used your product or service, they gain a certain level of trust and comfort in what you have to offer. Solicit testimonials after each purchase and use those that are the most convincing to prospective purchasers.
5. Create a Compelling Offer. Be sure to offer something that no one else is currently offering. If your offer is similar to your competitors or is not very interesting, consumers have no reason to learn more. Of course providing something for FREE is often a great way to entice potential customers. Maybe it's a 3-day free trial or a free evaluation of some kind. Be creative, try something new, and measure the response.
6. Developing Trust. Before anyone will buy from you, your website or company needs to be seen as reputable. This means that consumers can purchase from you and not worry about the safety of their credit card information, personal information, or anything else being exchanged. A good method for developing trust is to purchase and display safety and reliability icons such as BBB Online, Trust-e, and VeriSign.
7. Provide a Guarantee. Nothing makes a consumer more comfortable with a purchase than offering a guarantee. Perhaps you can offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee or a money back guarantee. A guarantee is a great way ease the risk of making a purchase. If your competitors are offering a guarantee, you want yours to be equal or better.
Internet marketing is an incredibly powerful medium for segmenting your prospects and delivering targeted advertising. Online, you can easily measure you return on investment and refine your marketing over time to improve results.
If you are a local business you can benefit from Internet marketing as well. Look for local directories to list your business or service. Or, you can supplement your local advertising with product marketing pages on your website. Internet marketing is more than just placing ads online, it's using the web to communicate the value of your products and services.
Article Source: http://ArticlesReprint.com
Home based small business � boon or a bane?
The market is teeming with numerous ideas of home based internet business launched by innumerable companies. Every single day new schemes come into the market under the garb of legitimate home based internet businesses. Sadly, most of these so called top home internet business are pure pyramid scams.
Home based internet businesses can be a good opportunity provided you are serious about it. With increasing unemployment & rising costs, having a steady income has become a critical issue nowadays. This has a direct bearing not only on the security and well-being of their children but also on the security of their retirement days. If you work at home on internet, not only will you be able to earn a steady income but also be with your kids in their growing years. Moreover, the more you earn now, the more secure their future will be. In such circumstances, if you plan to start a home based internet business, it makes perfect sense.
But the problem lies in how to select the right internet home based business opportunity? The different ideas of top home internet business often confuse the mind and stop us from taking a quick and concrete decision regarding the best home business. Then there are questions regarding the viability of these top home internet business opportunity. Then, you are also doubtful whether the income generated from the work at home on internet opportunity be able to replace that from a fulltime job?
In addition to the reliability factor there is another question regarding the amount of investment. What would be the costs of starting work at home on internet business initiative? When the monetary return from top home internet businesses is uncertain, then there is no logic in starting one. Hence, selecting the right internet home based business is of critical importance.
One such work at home on internet business opportunity is internet affiliate marketing. There are innumerable companies offering reliable affiliate programs. And in most cases, the affiliate fees are either free or a basic minimum. The benefits of these home based internet businesses are many. There are tensions regarding inventory build up, or issues such as commercial property, licenses and other related chores. You will be able to keep your total focus on how to market the product or business concept on your website
After selecting the right affiliate program to start your internet based home business, you should go about building your own website which will mark foray into home based small business.
Do not leave your internet home based business midway and change to [a] stable but permanent job. This is the mistake most people [who] work at home on [the] internet do. Also don't expect that you will become successful in your [sic] home internet business in a short span of time. So stay put and work hard at your internet home business.
There are various benefits associated with internet based home business. They also require a smaller investment than offline ones. But it requires equal dedication, ethics and hard work to make it successful in this competitive world.
Jim Mack is a Sales, Marketing and Business Building Training Expert besides being a Success Coach and Mentor. Jim has learnt the secret of internet home based businesses and enjoys multiple income streams.
Article Source: http://ArticlesReprint.com
Online Business - The Naked Truth
It's easy-peasy to set up an online business
YES! - Setting up an online business is ridiculously easy these days. Technical innovations make it possible to have your business up and running in a matter of minutes complete with a ready inventory of stuff "guaranteed" to make you tons of money.
NO! - It's what comes AFTER the setup that's difficult. Other than the fact that your business operates in cyberspace, everything else about running an online business is the same. You still need a business and marketing plan, advertising and promotional campaigns. It takes hard (brain) work � initially at least!
I'll be swamped with orders from all over the world!
YES - The beauty of an online business is that your market world-wide! Even if you manage to sell an e-book for only 10 dollars to a fraction of this market, you'd be a very rich man/woman indeed!
NO! - Setting up a website is pretty much like building a hotel on an exotic island. You may have the best beaches, services and products, but nobody's going to know you exist until you shout it out to the world. That's probably the hardest and most frustrating aspect of promoting an online business. Building a substantial web presence can be expensive if you want it done quickly OR a long, lonely and tedious journey if you're on a budget!
Tons of people will visit my website!
YES! � If you have a VERY unique website, product or service, people will quickly pick up on it and you will see other websites and sources driving (people) traffic to your site.
NO! - One SEO (Search Engine Optimization) report estimates that Google well over 5 billion web pages a day! Yours is probably one of many thousands (if not millions) vying for that coveted top spot in search rankings for your category. Unless you have professional SEO people looking into this for you or you are into SEO, you will probably be languishing in page 20 or more for quite a while. Be prepared for this!
Making money online is dirt cheap
YES! � You can get by with free or cheap web hosting, free email, and a battery of free tools to run your online business. There are many people who have made millions with very little investment, but these are the EXCEPTION rather than the rule.
NO! � Eventually, as your online business grows, you will require specialized services like faster web hosting, autoresponders, link management and SEO tools - just to mention a few. The online business arena is a fiercely competitive one where you will be competing with the big boys so you have to be prepared to invest in your online business. It takes money to make money.
My online businesses will guarantee me passive and residual income
YES! � If you're hardworking, persistent and you approach your online businesses with the same fervor as you would your career, the results will be quite pleasing indeed, hopefully not just for yourself, but for your family and generations to come!
NO! � Statistics show that about 85 % of people who attempt to run an online business eventually give up after a year. These are the folk who either went into it believing the promises that riches will come quickly (and easily) or those that just gave up too soon.
I can relax while my online business makes me tons of money
YES! � Like I said, if you're persistent, done your homework and invested in technology to automate your online business, you WILL be sleeping in on a lazy, rainy Monday morning and taking long leisurely walks with your kids in the park while others are stuck in a job they hate!
NO! � Like every successful online business owner, you WILL hunger for more success! I love the fact that online businesses allow you to be anywhere in the world at any time of day, to make money! Once you get into the groove, you're not going to want to sit still while there are money making ideas floating around in that brain of yours!
Multiple streams of income IS possible
Too many people believe that building multiple streams of income is as easy as setting up a website. The truth of the matter is that it takes a conscious and consistent effort to make things work. Many people fall into the trap of trying to do too many things at once. They join a bunch of affiliate programs thinking that they'll be able to work on all of them at the same time.
Most successful Internet Entrepreneurs will tell you that the best way is to work on one specific online business (or website) until you've achieved some level of success before you move on to building the next one. Work on a schedule and give your online business time to grow. Eventually, you will have a network of money making ventures creating multiple streams of income!
In closing, remember this - the online business pie continues to grow at an incredible rate everyday. There's enough for everyone so dig in and enjoy! Here's to your success � and mine too!
Andrew Shim is the owner and editor of http://www.PositiveMoneyIdeas.com a website which offers FREE IDEAS for those interested in starting their own freelance or home based business and http://www.PositiveTones.com a FREE resource website for Positive Living. He and his wife run a successful home catering business. When not up to his eyeballs in veggie, meat, gravy and being official taster for his catering business, he manages his websites, writes for numerous other sites and magazines and fools around with his kids.
Article Source: http://ArticlesReprint.com