My Buy Essay

Posts Tagged ‘Internet marketing’

The Internet offers many means of affordable marketing, often with full-color imagery to go along with text. And multimedia components add some spice to the mix and increase online visitors and purchases. Here are some top Internet marketing techniques to help increase your sales and income.

1. DIRECTORY – Create your own directory on a specific industry topic, placing your own ad or banner along the top. Then invite others to add their website links via a link exchange program, listing themselves in your directory. This will result in lots of free advertising for you as your directory expands with links across the World Wide Web. Enter “link exchange software” into your favorite search engine for help with setup.

2. TEACH A COURSE &ndash Write out a simple step-by-step instructional class in your area of expertise. Then break it up into smaller segments and set them up in an autoresponder as email messages with your ads included at the top and / or bottom of each message. Invite website visitors to sign up through on online form or email subscription address offered through the autoresponder service. Then as people sign up, they will learn more about you and your products and services.

3. EZINE EBOOK &ndash Forget about small daily or weekly ezines. Try publishing one large monthly e-zine as an e-book format, preferably an Adobe .pdf file. Include a large number of articles with each issue and regularly featured areas like inspirational quotes, industry tips, favorite sites and advice from the pros. Also insert full-color graphics, multimedia components like audio file links, if you like, and ads. Then you can charge a monthly rate, with an annual discounted package purchase, and sell advertising spots.

4. TIP OF THE DAY &ndash Set up your own Tip of the Day targeting your own area of expertise, relating to your own products and services. You can set it up on your website in a targeted box, via autoresponder, a blog, an RSS feed, an audio file or others means of communication. Add your own ad along with your tip for whichever product or service you want to target or maybe even your own online store for all. This will gently remind your target audience where to go to learn more.

In summary, by using Internet Marketing techniques customized to fit your own products and services, you can reach out and increase your website traffic and purchase opportunities. Internet marketing can mean a more affordable way to grow your business.

Internet marketing can be a tricky business if you do not know what you are doing. That is one reason that so many marketing beginners constantly execute some of the top internet marketing mistakes known to the cyber world. Building a clean, workable web site can be very simple if you educate yourself on the basics of site design and content. And if you fail to learn the most important aspects of web site creation? You will most likely commit some of the deadliest internet marketing blunders the World Wide Web has ever seen.

A significant internet marketing mistake frequently made, is letting your webmaster compose your site copy. Webmasters are generally not trained to write text, and most probably cringe at the thoughts of having to write the copy that will be viewed by thousands. When developing your internet marketing plan, you must allow money to hire a professional copywriter that is paid to create articles and text. For your site to make money, you need words that will entice your visitors, and encourage them to buy your products. Experienced copywriters are very knowledgeable in marketing and promotion, and can guarantee to attract large amounts traffic with their exceptional copy and unique ideas.

Another major internet marketing blunder is poor web site design and navigation. A site’s design should be clean and simple, with a search box on the top, and clickable categories running down the side. Small thumbnail pictures should accompany each product, with larger, crisp photos just a click away. A great internet marketing technique is to have a separate section of the web site specifically for sale and discount products, and another page for seasonal items.

Forgetting to include contact information on your web site is another huge internet marketing mistake. Who would want to buy from a company that cannot be reached? Your web site should always include a telephone number, e-mail address, and shipping address. It is advisable to include a separate page solely for contact information, and have a link to your e-mail address on the home page.

You want to be successful in internet marketing, right? Then read along to find out the 2 MOST important things you need to have success online.

The most important thing to remember when you first begin internet marketing is to build a list. What I mean when I say this is you must have some way of capturing the email addresses of those who come to visit your site. This is very possible to do; all you need to do is set-up an autoresponder account. How it works is when a visitor comes to your site, they see your sign up form, put in their name and email, or whatever information you are asking for, and then they get an instant response email from you saying “Welcome” or “Thanks for signing up for blank” This way you have captured the email address for future emails you send out to promote your website/products etc. Since your visitor willingly gave their name and/or email address to you, any further emails sent won’t seen as spam. This is important because spam sucks, and anyone who gets a bunch of spam is never a happy camper. Also, you should always include a removal link at the end of your emails to give them the option to remove themselves from your mailing list. I have personally found it annoying when I can’t find a removal link in an email and I keep getting them sent to me. Be professional in everything you do.

Another essential for internet marketing online is your own website. Now when I say essential I don’t mean you absolutely HAVE to have a website, but it is very HIGHLY recommended. The reason for this is because it is your space to sell your products/services. It is your virtual “real estate.” You own this website and you can create it anyway you like. You can also create your own website address that no one else has! Make it something easy to remember to keep those visitors coming back for more! Making a website isn’t hard to do. It just takes a little time on your part, but in the end you will be very happy you did.

So go out and build that website and get that autoresponder account. It is guaranteed that without these two essentials you will not have the success you could have with them.

Are you completely overwhelmed by all of the money making websites and emails that you are bombarded with every day?

I know that I am.

Did you know that this is why most people will never succeed with an online business?

This is what I call information overload!

Internet Marketers count on this attribute to make their fortunes. They know that you are looking. They know that you are impressionable and they know that if their sales letter is strong enough then you are hooked. Then what happens to you?

You just found the perfect product or idea, one that is guaranteed to give you the financial freedom and the wealth you are so desperately seeking. You read through the sales page, find your excitement building, order the product or just give your email address and deep down you know that this is “the one”.

You receive the product or e-book, and then what? This is where it ends for most people.

Before you even finish reviewing the product, provided that you even start, you move on to your next great idea. This last “great idea” just sits on your desktop, completely forgotten, collecting virtual dust.

Your days of moving on Must Stop Now!

There are many legitimate ways to make money online and a whole lot of hype revolving around them. Now is the time to make a decision. You can not succeed without a plan.

Find a product–Evaluate it–Research it–Do it–Stick with it!

Do most people fail because of lack of knowledge? Lack of ideas? Lack of resources?

No! Most people fail because of lack of commitment.

Everybody wants to make money online. Everybody wants to fire their boss. Everybody wants to work from home. Everybody does not have what it takes. Commitment.

You are told that you can make a fortune by signing up with such and such program. Pay the small fee, do a few simple steps and watch the money pour in. Bam you’re rich.

There is no such thing!

Whatever you do, whatever you join is going to take hard work, time, and commitment.

The reward, however, can be great. You can work from home, you can make more money online than in any conventional job and you can become financial free.

It is time to join among the ranks of the successful Internet marketers. The fact that you are reading this article shows me that you have what it takes. Chances are that you already have an idea about what you would like to do. Research this idea, build upon and most importantly, do it!

When you are presented with other ideas, think about how they can fit in with your current project. If they don’t, discard them. If they do, then pick out the useful parts and utilize them, ignore the rest

This article is not to sell you on any program. I am not trying to pitch the next big thing. I am trying to have you reach deep inside of yourself and to have you make a decision on what to do. Stop making everyone else rich on your uncertainty. Make a commitment and create your own path to financial freedom.

Make a plan, stay focused, commit and most importantly–never ever give up!

More and more people are realizing that the Internet offers great potential to set up a healthy business for pennies on the dollar. This is good news for internet marketers – but it also means that they need to lift their game.

Why? Because the would-be “netpreneur” has access to way more training than ever before. It’s possible to get up to speed very quickly on what is needed to get started online. This, in turn, means that people quickly recognize what offers true value and what does not. They see so many sales letters that they become, to a certain degree, immune to the typical hype. They’re willing to spend – but they want value for money. They want to be treated like intelligent and discerning adults.

So here’s a message to all ‘gurus’ (and aspiring gurus) who are keen to get their share of the dollars waiting to be sent flying their way via cyberspace.

1) What does it take to make people want to buy “you” rather than some other internet marketer?

2) What might make people want to unsubscribe from your list?

3) And what pushes them into asking for a refund?

What Makes People Want to Buy?

- They buy if they can see that a product will give them new knowledge and understanding.

- They buy if the purchase will speed up business growth.

- They buy if a product will automate a task that eats into their time. (People quickly learn to spend their time on marketing and product creation, rather than repetitive tasks.)

Tip: Once newbies have been exposed to a few sales pages, it’s not long before they learn to look beyond the sales hype. They study a sales letter carefully to work out what the product will “really” offer them. (Do they need this? Or will it duplicate something else they own?)

They also learn to look for value for money. Some higher-priced products are worth every cent. Some cheaper products add very little to what they already know.

(Note: Savvy internet marketers already realize that if they put together online interviews offering truly valuable information, they are far more likely to attract and keep new customers. A quick example: Jane Smith listens to a one-hour audio interview on search engine optimization and traffic. She finds out some really useful information she has not so far heard anywhere else. She decides that this guy knows what he’s talking about and shells out a couple of hundred dollars for his products.)

What Makes People Want to Unsubscribe from a List?

- Getting four identical emails trying to sell them the same product, because the sender hasn’t figured out how to move them from one list to another after they buy.

- Getting a ‘canned’ email sounding full of excitement about a new product or service – which turns out to be a duplicate of the email they get from six other marketers who are affiliates for the same product.

- Getting email from a product creator about anything under the sun because you bought XXX product from them. If your customers sign up for a newsletter, they expect mailings.

What Makes People Want to Ask for a Refund?

In the past, buyers tended to shrug and write off a bad purchase. But increasingly, people are prepared to stand up for their rights. If they feel they have not received value for money, they will ask for a refund.

So what makes them decide to ask for their money back?

- Software that doesn’t work as it is supposed to.

- Physical products (CDs, DVDs) that don’t work on their systems.

- An e-book that is full of content easily found in an hour’s net-surfing.

- An e-book that has skimped on content or that has been poorly written.

- An e-book that not only skimps on content but is full of links to up-sells to get the ‘really valuable’ information, or is full of affiliate links.

The last case, an e-book full of affiliate links or links to an up-sell…is something you should be giving away free as part of your viral marketing campaign. Charge for it and you risk your reputation for being a source of quality information.

Other things that bite into your customer’s valuable time.

- MP3′s that are streamed from a website rather than being downloadable.

- e-books that are in “.exe” format only, so the customer can’t print them out in one ‘hit’ (and can’t access them on a Mac computer).

Give your clients anything that they can listen to or read away from the computer. Most of them spend enough hours a day at the keyboard already. They’d rather load an audio interview

into their MP3 players and listen while they go for a walk or relax in the sun. They’d prefer to print out an e-book and read it or mark it up while sitting in an easy chair.

Please, please don’t tether them to the computer!

And finally, about those “name squeeze” pages. People are very quickly getting tired of having to give up their email addresses just to get to a sales page. Do you want them to buy or not? These days, unless there’s a huge buzz around the Net and they want to see what it’s all about, prospective customers are just as likely to click the ‘back’ button on their browser, or close the window and leave.

After all, there’s always another internet marketer waiting to sell them a product. Probably one very similar to yours. Marketers who respect their client’s time and intelligence are the ones who will get their loyalty – and their cash.

I see all over the Internet people claiming to make tons of money from the latest network marketing or MLM program. All of these income claims are usually outrageous and often make you your emotions run wild as you reach for your credit card to quickly sign up with the latest program that will guarantee your retirement. So how are there a select few online who can profit, while a majority will never succeed?

I personally believe that it is not possible for the newbie Internet user to make money in network marketing or MLM online and I have listed some of the main reasons below.

I. You do not have a network of people to make you money

Another name for network marketing is MLM or “Multi-Level Marketing”. If you want to succeed in a network marketing program it is all about the size of your network. So what is a network? It’s an solid set of contacts who know you and trust you. A more common term for networks on the internet is “a list”. A list is a group of people sometimes thousands of them who have chosen or opted-in to receive a newsletter or e-mail from the list owner.

All of the major distributors in network marketing have a huge list. When they find a new MLM program to join, they send an email to their list promoting it and you guessed it…their downline grows virtually overnight. Then they can sit back and count their money as their downline promotes for them and does all the work.

II. You are unknown

Don’t think that being a unknown counts with all the millions of Internet users. In the world of network marketing being a well known marketer has a huge advantage.

If you build trust with people they are more likely to follow you. As I mentioned before, the top network marketers have a huge mailing list that trusts them and is therefore willing to sign up to almost any program that they promote. It’s no different to a top celebrity coming on your TV and telling you to buy a certain brand or product. Familiarity builds trust online.

This can also work the other way around. When you’re a well-known Internet marketing guru, people notice you, including the big network marketing distributors. They know that you have good recruiting power so they want you in their downline to build their organization as quickly as possible. However, if you’re just a little fish in the Internet marketing pond then you’ll never hear about the new network marketing programs until it’s too late.

III. You will not hear about the new network marketing program until it’s too late

The keys to success in network marketing or MLM is having a huge downline that will do the work for you. That means that you need a downline of experienced and dedicated network marketers. All the good network marketers already know about the program and have already signed up or dismissed it as unviable. They were probably on the mailing list of a big network marketing player and heard about it right after it was launched.

Who will be left for you to build your network? Not many people. Most people you approach will already have heard about the program and might even already be in it or might just be sick of hearing about it. You might be lucky enough to sign-up a few people who weren’t aware of it before. Unfortunately, those people are very unlikely to bring in lots of new recruits for your downline. In fact, the money they bring in will barely cover your own monthly fees. Eventually they’ll become fed up and quit. Leaving you desperately trying to sign someone new up so you can cover your monthly dues.

So, as you can see, network marketing programs are best avoided when you’re new to Internet marketing. You can put those dreams of signing up to a network marketing program or MLM and making huge amounts of money every month right out of your mind.

As an experienced Internet marketer you need to forget about all of the “get rich quick” and “early retirement” scams online and concentrate on building a slow and steady residual income and “get rich slow”. It is a reality, and you can start with absolutely nothing!

People typically visit the internet in search of information. They are looking for content that is relevant to their purpose. They typically are not looking for marketing ploys. There are a number of ways to increase this content, including having a search engine optimization company provide you with keyword rich articles, but there are three major reasons why more website content increases your website traffic.

The first reason more website content increases traffic is that content articles tend to be focused on a topic. This focus will then lead to the repeated use of a keyword or phrase. That repeated use leads to higher search engine rankings. Search engine rankings are the way returns come back to an internet user through a search engine. If someone searches for the term “dogs” they will come back with thousands of pages of results. The order those results are displayed on the screen depends on a number of factors including how frequently the term is mentioned on the site and where it is mentioned on the site.

Research shows that people tend only to click on the first ten results a search engine offers them. Increasing your website content will help you become one of those first ten websites. This means more people than you ever thought possible will be clicking on your site in no time simply based on your website ranking. Not only will you be closer to the top of the search engine with more content, you may also be indexed by more search engines. This could mean something like ninety percent of all internet users seeing your website in any one given internet session.

The second reason more website content increases traffic is a bit more complicated. If you have strong, well written content on your site, you increase your credibility with customers. Suddenly you are no longer a company selling homemade dog food; you are somebody who can offer knowledgeable advice about anything a responsible dog owner needs to know including house training, leash laws, and sleeping problems. This increase in credibility not only makes people believe what you have posted to your site, it also makes them want to stay at your site to read the rest of your content articles. The more content articles you have at your site, the longer they will stay. Keeping them there as long as possible is the key to selling your product to them. You have a much longer time frame in which to pitch your product and close the sale.

Not only will they stay at your site longer with more content, but this also means they may come back to your site the next time they log onto their machine. For example, if you are selling refilled printer ink cartridges, but you have content on your site related to all things printers, you have a good chance that someone might stay to look at a few of the articles. However, the next time they need digital photo printing tips, chances are good that they will remember what great content you offered them during their last internet session, and they will return directly to your site just to read more of your content. This means you have their complete, undivided attention for an even longer period of time. Moreover, if they are returning to your site on some sort of regular basis, chances are good that they will recommend the site to other users like friends and relatives which will mean even more traffic for your site.

The final way more website content increases your web traffic is that it increases the likelihood that advertisers and reciprocal link exchangers will be attracted to your site. Reciprocal links are exchanged by websites that have similar interests. The more relevant topics you are able to list, the more chances you have of someone with similar interests attempting to link to your site. This could greatly increase your website traffic because not only will people be able to find your site through search engines, they may also be able to find your site through other sites. Further, though, advertisers are looking for sites that encourage customers they want to do business with. More keywords will mean more customers for you which can mean more advertisers for you which can mean more profits and visibility for you.

No matter which reason you choose, more content will increase your website traffic. That can only mean good things in store for you and your website. You can have your content articles written for you or write them yourself. Whichever way you go, though, be sure they are well-written, as poorly written articles will do nothing to increase your website traffic.

Commitment, Yours and Theirs

To achieve success in any on-line business, it is necessary to have a high level of commitment.

The road to success is not an easy one. Despite what you may have read, it is certainly no easier on the internet than it is anywhere else. A high level of commitment is necessary not just of you but by all the parties to your on-line venture.

Start by looking at yourself. How serious are you? Are you a “bumblebee;” one of those people who flits from one on-line business opportunity to another looking for that one perfect flower? Newsflash…there isn’t one. If you are a bumblebee then its time you assessed your ability to commit. There are many very worthwhile businesses on the internet, but unless you know how to “finish the job” then you are simply wasting your time and your money.

If you really want to succeed, you have to be prepared to do the things that will help you to succeed. No matter which business you choose, the process is the same. You have to work at it. If you don’t want to work at it, then perhaps you aren’t really cut out for the kind of work environment where you need a lot of personal drive and initiative. No matter how wonderful you think it might be to “work from home” and do your own thing, if you don’t have the discipline to make yourself do what needs to be done, you won’t succeed. Just wishing you had a beautiful garden isn’t going to get you one. You have to sow the seeds, and pull the weeds before you can reap the rewards.

Now, take a look at the team that you are interested in joining. Many teambuilds promote their business opportunity on business forums, such as Moneymakergroup. You can very quickly review all the teambuilds that each team is offering. Before you make your decision as to which is the right team, go through all the teambuild threads, and read the posts. Look for the following information:

1. Check the names of the members who started the team-build. How many team-builds does this person have? Are they all still active? If not, how long did the team-build last before it fizzled? What caused the previous team-build to die out? If the business is still in operation but the teambuild has stalled post in these threads. Ask the leaders why the team-build seems to have stalled.

2. Then check to see if the leader is running other team-builds? How many do they have? Is there evidence that the team-build fizzled out after the leaders were paid their commission?

If a leader is moving from business to business, reaping commissions as they go, leaving stalled teams in their wake, don’t you owe it to yourself to forego this teambuild, even if initially it does look exciting and promising? Remember, anyone can start a teambuild, but can they stick with it when the newness wears off, the problems start to surface and the routine becomes monotonous?

Bumblebees can be found everywhere. You owe it to yourself to find out how committed these leaders are to the team-builds that they begin. It is your money that you are investing and if a leader convinces you to invest with their team, they have a responsibility to do everything within their power to fulfill their promise to work on your behalf.

If a teambuild has stalled, try to determine if the failure of the venture was due to the team leadership or to the business itself. You can’t blame the gardener for a drought.

Multiple Streams of Income

This is another phrase that you see all over the internet. But do you really need to be involved in 50 different businesses to achieve on-line success?

Does the team offer you a variety of business opportunities that make sense and support each other? If their multiple streams of income do not flow smoothly from one opportunity to another then it will detract from your ability to focus on your goals. Furthermore, ask yourself if the businesses are in competition with each other? Why would you want to join a team that offers you 2 separate travel programs, unless they were integrated in a way that will result in synergy? This means both programs should work fabulously well together for the maximum benefit of each member and the team as a whole. Think about it.

Look for a team that is going to provide you with no more than one or two key business opportunities. Everything else that they are offering should support these key businesses. If you have more than 3 it will surely dilute the efforts and the capital of the members that you recruit. Furthermore, it will most likely steal your focus, drain you of good energy and it will definitely slow your momentum.

END OF CHAPTER FOUR