Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Making Money Online With Affiliate Marketing
Making money online with affiliate marketing is often viewed as an easy way to make cash. However, you must know the proper methods to achieve success. Below are some very effective tools and techniques to help you achieve financial success.
A) Some Initial Steps
The basic premise of affiliate marketing is to make money promoting someone else's product.
Clickbank is the most popular place to locate affiliate products. There are thousands of different products ranging anywhere from nutritional supplements to search engine optimization e-books. It's simple, just register for an account there and then browse the many products and choose one you like, then start promoting it.
How do you know when an affiliate product is worth it?
Make sure the commission you receive is at least 50% of what the selling price is. Also, $30 should be the minimum commission amount you receive, otherwise you won't be making money online with affiliate marketing - your profit margins will so small it won't make sense to continue your efforts.
B) Next In Line?
Make sure there is a demand for the product(s) you select. How do you do this? First you must think as a consumer, NOT a seller.
What kinds of keywords will your customer be using to search for the type of product you're promoting?
How much will the customer be willing to spend?
Can your product help the potential customer?
Making money online with affiliate marketing is so much easier once you have thought about and solved these issues in the beginning. It is imperative that you attempt to predict the mindset of the person you're selling to so you can make sure you are putting the product in front of the right person. This will get you into profit more quickly.
C) Some Marketing Items To Consider...
Article Marketing
Once you choose a product to promote, write commentaries, product descriptions and/or reviews so that you are creating a web presence about your product. Article marketing will easily be one of the most powerful methods you can implement for making money online with affiliate marketing. This method will not only help your presence online to grow but it will build your credibility, which is very important.
Oh yeah, in most cases article marketing is completely free!
Getting The Most Out Of Your Link
This is very important. Whenever you make a post in a forum, comment on a friend's MySpace page, or even send an email to someone, always include your link. As the number of your links online grow, so will your profits. It is very common for people to click links simply out of curiosity.
Forums
Forum participation is very effective. Make efforts to excite people about your opportunity by spreading the word like a virus. The Internet is perfect for this kind of thing.
Lightning Fast Financial Success
The most important element in making money online with affiliate marketing will come down to your marketing effectively online. If you're not sure of how to flood your site with targeted traffic, then making money will become a great challenge.
If you learn to master online marketing then you will absolutely succeed!
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/making-money-online-with-affiliate-marketing-tricks-of-the-trade-343301.html
About the Author:
Justin Michael is a top business mentor online and devotes his time, energy and effort into helping others succeed online. To find out how to take control of your financial situation and earn great wealth online, visit Justin at Perfect Wealth or email him at seahawkmarketing@gmail.com
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Keys to Website Success
Getting your website done up for your online marketing business? What are your expectations for a good website? What are the important factors that you are emphasizing on to get the desired results from your website? How do you plan to achieve such desired results that will project your website favorably with visitors and customers alike?
Designing a good website and making it work for you and your online business requires tremendous effort in meticulous planning, serious consideration and purposeful fine-tuning. Without all these factors, the vast amount of time, money and effort spent on starting up the website can all be wasted easily.
To achieve website success, it is imperative to consider the following points:
(1) Planning
Draft the plan for your website. What is the exact purpose for the website? This is important because it will set the direction that should be taken for the whole process of designing your website.
(2) Content consideration
Content is the meat and forms an integral part of the website. It is important to think about what content should be included on the website. Another aspect will be how often the content should be updated and how to get reoccurring content.
(3) Designing the website
This plays an important role in keeping your visitors for the first four seconds. The design of your website must speak its intention and desirability very clearly. What it has to show to the visitors must be made known in that very short time span. No beating around the bush whatsoever. It must be distinctly clear in sending its message across.
(4) Encouraging visitor participation
The website for whatever reason it is being designed must attempt to bring in visitors not only for the sake of traffic but also getting them involved by participating in the signing up of the free articles and newsletters that you are offering. The whole process must one of interaction, not just a one-way communication.
(5) Setting up the website
This poses no problems simply because there are professional web designers that you can approach for a certain fee, or alternatively, there are nowadays user-friendly software that you can purchase to design and build your own website, bearing in mind that the design has to be somewhat agreeable within limits to the intention of the website.
(6) Execution of follow-up
It will be extremely damaging if some visitor poses you a question but it is not being followed up within the same day. This reflects poorly on the efficiency on your part. It tarnishes the image of your online customer service.
(7) Promoting your website
In any marketing campaign, there is the element of promotion. After having posted your new website, it is crucial to spend some time in promoting it. It is new and therefore it has not garnered recognition or publicity withing this short period of time. It must be given some push through promoting it. There would be teething problems initially, so the website must be given close attention and nurturing, at least in this initial phase of being hosted.
(8) Executing maintenance of the website
Having set up the website on the internet, it is very important to maintain it. Enliven it with new and fresh content. Make it appealing as each day passes by and visitors returning looking forward to reading new information. Put a warm smile on your website everyday. It will be like what honey is to bees. The path to website success is being subtly laid ahead.
The prerogative after the website is being hosted is obviously getting visitors to know and come to your website. Without visitors to your website, the whole purpose of designing and hosting it will be defeated.
How do you plan to attract visitors to your website? There are several ways of realizing this plan:
(1) Submission of your website to various search engines
Submitting your site to various search engines will help in some way. Of course, it would be advisable not to place full reliance on them as they can be inconsistent. If budget permits, bidding for a spot on the search engine would be a more viable alternative simply because an extra bit of control can be exercised. Overture.com is one good choice.
(2) Put up various free offers
Who would not want to accept free offers if given? This can be best executed by explaining why the visitors in accepting the free offers would understand more about their problems on hand. "Grab free information relating to your backaches. You'll receive more of such information if your just sign in and allow me to mail you these free related information on a weekly basis".
(3)Put up ads online
It is a good opportunity to put up ads online. Run your paid ads in e-zines. Put your ad buried in another person's e-zine, or you can choose to buy a full page ad. The whole process will induce the source of incoming traffic to your website.
(4) Use word-of-mouth
This method is viral and is usually effective. Let the world know about your website by inserting your personal signature file on your name cards, brochures, leaflets, just to name a few. Inevitably, as this usually turns viral, it will lead to more website visibility.
The internet provides the opportunities for online success. All that is needed to be done is to leverage ourselves with technology. It is equally crucial to understand that website success needs good effort in planning, designing, hosting, promotion and maintenance of the website. Nothing is further from the truth that a well-maintained website is one guaranteed of success in the long run.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-marketing-articles/website-success-339899.html
For latest updates on how to increase traffic, raise page ranking, write effective articles and powerful squeeze pages, create explosive blog marketing system, learn about viral marketing, and bring in massive income from your internet marketing business, please Click here Webmaster: Jeremy Long Chia Teik
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
5 Keys to a Thriving Internet Business
Your dream may be to have a thriving internet business. Perhaps you have a small internet business now. Perhaps you have tried a few online 'programs' that didn't work. Perhaps you are just starting to look into what's available.
This article isn't going to tell you which program to try or which 'get rich quick' scheme will work---but what it will do is give you the essential keys to developing a long-term successful internet business.
Unfortunately, 'get-rich-quick' schemes and fast-start programs and the like, are not geared towards your long-term success. They are geared towards making money for the guy that sells it to you.
Keys to Starting a Successful Internet Business:
Key 1) You must have something that is based on real sales and real value. You cannot develop long-term success online with the various pyramid and ponzi schemes online. Your avenue for success online must be grounded in selling something that other people want.
Key 2) You must develop an online presence. You need a web site and an auto responder with which to communicate to your leads. Do not think you can subscribe to some system and use their program and simply sit back and make money. If that were possible, the whole world would be rich by now, right?
Key 3) You must be willing to commit x number of hours online working everyday. It can be 1 hour or 8 hours, but it must be an unbreakable commitment. You must be consistent. If you are not, then when things get boring or sales don't happen, you take a few days off. Before you know it, you aren't making enough money online, but it is not because you haven't started right, but because you didn't finish what you started.
Key 4) You must be committed to the long-haul. Internet marketing expertise and income does not come quickly to most people; however, if you stick with it, once you figure it all out, the success will continue to come in. Things tend to build momentum slowly on the web, but once they are unleashed, the income can be long-term. You must work really hard at the front end to make continued, real income on down the road.
Key 5) You must invest in your education. I do not mean go out and spend 10s of thousands of dollars buying books and programs you will never use. But you weren't born knowing how to make money online. Others who have learned the hard way have written books and programs to teach you what to do and how to do it fastest and most efficiently. Be willing to spend some money on your education.
These five keys may seem really simple, and have nothing to do with the latest fads and crazes online, but by following these keys you can be successful at just about anything online.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/5-keys-to-a-thriving-internet-business-337604.html
About the Author:
Westly Lager is a success mentor and coach helping teach people how to work online. With Westly's experience and expertise you can't go wrong. See how Westly can help you today by visiting Niche Annihilation Method also checkout Foreclosure Network USA for more tips.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Blogging Secrets You Should Know
Blogging has become more and more popular these days, people are looking for ways how they can improve their blogs so that more people know about their blog and can hence visit their blog. I believe that you can find a lot of blogging tips, guides and even secrets in the search engine, blogging has become one of the most-seek topic because everyone blogs.
So what are the ultimate blogging secrets? In my opinion, those blogging tips such as submit your blog to Technorati, post constantly, get a FeedBurner account, submit your posts to social networking sites, ping your blog and many more are not secrets anymore. This is because by simply typing ‘blogging tips’ in the search engine, you will come out with tons of results of the same kind. Almost every bloggers out there knows about these tips and guides.
So what I’m going to tell you here about the ultimate blogging secrets are something much more ‘mental’, it is more to your mindset rather than something like all the blogging tips that you can find from the net itself. Therefore, for me, the ultimate blogging secrets are:
Secret #1 – Know why you blog
Know the reason that you blog. Everything happens for a reason, and if you create a blog today, there must be a reason for you. So, why did you blog? Is it because you are just following the trend? You see a lot of people are playing with blogs, and you decide to join them as well? Or is it that you want to earn money from your blog? Whatever reason it is, there must be a reason; you have to find this reason.
Once you know why you blog, then nothing can ever stop you. Just like if the reason you blog is because that you want to create an extra stream of income online, then do whatever it takes to achieve it. It is the purpose that keeps you going, motivates you, inspires you and keeps you moving forward. Today, if you don’t know why you blog, it is most likely you are going to give up the moment you find that nobody actually visits your blog.
That is why the reason is important. Know why you blog before you start creating your blog. This is just like having a clear goal, if you have a goal, you will know where you are heading. However, if you don’t have a clear goal, you will be lost somewhere. If you don’t even know where you wanted to go, how can you ever reach somewhere?
Secret #2 – Serve your readers
Many people did not know about this. Did you know that the reason people visit your blog is because of the information that you have? Therefore, the main purpose visitors arrive at your blog is because of your content, so you will have to write quality posts. You will have to serve your readers. This is the one question that you have to ask yourself, “Are you willing to do whatever it takes to educate your readers and without asking for anything in return?” If your answer is yes, then you should start creating your blog right now.
Just imagine that if someone arrives to your blog, but your blog contains nothing, your visitors will leave immediately, because your blog has got nothing that they are looking for. I like to use this word when I talk about serving your readers, Value. Yes, you have to create value for your readers, the more value you created for them, the more likely they will addict to your blog, and thus, follow your advice, and purchase whatever you recommend to them.
This is how it works; creating value for your readers, provide something that they are looking for. I know you’ve heard this, ‘content is king’. This is very true, your blog content is just like the heart of your blog, and the traffic is blood. Without the heart, your blog will die, and without the blood, you blog cannot live. So, often bring out valuable posts for your readers, write with original content and your readers will appreciate it.
Secret #3 – Treat their blog as a get-rich-quick scheme
I believe that almost 50 percent of people who start their blogs with the reason that they hope they can make some money out from their blog, fast. If you think it this way, then you are wrong, blogging is not something that can bring you money in a fast way. In fact, blogging is something just like real-estate, it will appreciate over time.
Meaning that you have to spend time and develop your blog. Your blog is not a money tree and it cannot earn you any money if you don’t develop it properly. Most people start their blog and wish that they can make some money out of it; this is because they have heard that many bloggers are making a lot of money from their blog, easily. They think that by simply setting up a blog, throw some posts in it, set up Google Adsense, and checks will come to them automatically.
If you think that blog is something that can make you rich in a quick way, you are wrong. Indeed that some people can earn a lot of money from their blog in just a short period of time, but did you really think that they are just lucky? You have to spend a lot of time to build your blog, you have to treat your blog as a serious business if you really want to make money from it.
There you go, the 3 blogging secrets that you never know about. Well, maybe you’ve already known about these, but in my opinion, these secrets are also important compare with other blogging tips such as submitting to Technorati, pinging, bookmark, etc. I hope that this article can help you achieve much more in your blog.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/blogging-articles/the-ultimate-blogging-secrets-that-you-never-know-for-year-2008-331611.html
About the Author:
Shawn Lim, an internet marketer who earns money online. You can grab all the success tips and money making guides here, get your FREE e-Books that lead you one step forward to your dreams, The
Millionaire Secrets. If you don’t act on this information today you may never get the opportunity to take this life changing step again. Just follow the link and start your new life today!
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Monday, February 11, 2008
5 Ways to Generate Internet Income
The internet, as it continues to expand on a daily basis provides more and more opportunities for the home entrepreneur to generate income. With so many opportunities available, there is a wide variety to choose from. Because of this, it is no surprise that people are flocking to the internet to cash in on their chance of a lifetime. Here are 5 popular ways to generate internet income.
1. Article writing
One thing that every website and business needs is quality content so there is a huge business in article writing. It is amazing how so many people have brilliant ideas for their websites but are incapable of producing copy with their ideas. With content in such high demand, many businesses are willing to pay to keep their website in the upper half of the search engines.
2. Affiliate marketing
Despite the fact that Affiliate marketing has been around on the internet for several years now it continues to be one of the top ways to generate internet income. There is so much potential because of the hundreds of thousands of affiliate programs available to market. If you do opt to get into affiliate marketing, it is essential that you promote no more than a few programs. The reason for this is because the demand to each program makes it impossible to have success in a plethora of programs.
3. Freelance jobs
Freelance jobs have continued to increase in popularity over the last few because of the ability it gives people to focus on their specific skills. On the internet you can find freelance jobs in article writing, graphic designing, copywriting, and much more. While it can be difficult to turn this into a full-time job, it is a great way to pick up internet income.
4. eBay
As more and more people are beginning to notice that what is “junk” to them is other people’s treasure, this has resulted in eBay becoming a popular way to generate internet income over the last few years. But aside from selling your own stuff, it has become popular to purchase hot items before they sell out and then sell them on eBay for twice the value.
5. Start your own internet income home business
Starting your own online business allows you to do whatever interests you as long as there is public appeal as well and there is nothing more enjoyable than considering work a hobby. Perhaps the best thing about the internet is that anyone can start their own business.
There are literally hundreds of online income opportunities because the internet is growing at such a rapid rate. But these are five of the most popular ways to generate internet income that home entrepreneurs are jumping on today.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/business-opportunities-articles/5-ways-to-generate-internet-income-329479.html
About the Author:
Cynthia Minnaar is the owner of , where you will find ways to generate internet income, online business opportunities and legitimate online home income resources. Discover the methods she uses to generate internet income.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Top 10 Money Making Strategies For Affiliate Marketers
Affiliate marketing is a low-cost method to merchandise for awareness building, publicizing products and offering services.
Following traits are a must for achieving the appropriate marketing skills:
- Determination
- Endurance
- Quest for knowledge
Along with these three traits, one needs to use an adoptive strategy which helps in progressing and promoting the process of marketing. This is not a blood-sweating process but requires a lot of patience till success knocks at your door. Following are the 10 strategies which can boost your income:
1. Create your habitat
Survey the market and concentrate on a specific product. Categorize the product with extensive information. Develop the market and customize them to satisfy the consumer. Provide updated information and use of the product in more than one ways.
2. Use a search engine
For marketing online, search engines are the best service providers. Do not waste your savings by spending on making own search engine. Hire a search engine and use all your marketing up-gradation methods as inputs into them. Create your own site by adding-on to the engine.
3. Know your consumer
Provide appropriate knowledge and develop trust with your consumers. Be more credible by providing the best information available to satisfy their quest. This helps in boosting the psyche of the consumer. Create credibility and satisfaction as they read about the product.
4. Diversification
Diversify the merchandise for a particular product and promote them as to the needs of the market. At any point of time if the market for merchandise fails then promote similar products from other habitats or brands. This will help the customer to reach for immediate needs. It will help in promoting your own business and thereby, the cash rolls.
5. Marketing skills
Diversify the skills and techniques as per the requirement of the customer. Involve new trends and stay on top as a trend-setter. Seek new avenues of knowledge, learn them and make new banners with recent updates. Provide price lists along with the products.
6. Monitoring
Closely monitor your growth and achievements with appropriate value systems. Compare your growth with other similar partners. Look for trends which have improved business. Though initially one may not be highly successful, yet the need is to keep putting efforts to slowly set the pace. Evolve as a 'go getter' as time moves.
7. Using video
Specific sites like 'Google video' and 'You Tube' are advertising various promotional techniques. There are two types of video applications - (a) squeeze videos: they provide quality videos with email options. (b) Affiliate video branders: this permits online branding.
8.Rolling your commission
- Popularizing and advertising the site - with small write ups, pictures, chat rooms
- Create a free e-book - directory of products/sales/customers
- Design ads which are competitive
- Personally endorse products
- Make use of web rings - helps to be in touch with similar sites
- Post discussion on the web which gives more information
- Create a blog - helps in topic discussion and more visitors
- Be selective in your approaches
9. Effective email follow-ups
Follow-up with your prospects are essential. On a regular basis, 5 follow-ups would bring the sale to the counter. Create an auto-responder service to the people who visit the website. Tag your visitors' email id, so that you can mail them on the recent updates. This will also create am potential customers directory for you.
10. Affiliate marketing program
This is the easiest way to get started for online marketing services. It helps a good living by earning online. Different programs with different commission offers are available on the net. One needs to be choosy for the best program which suits your own needs. Affiliate associates (marketing associates) should promote recommended and successful programs. One should promote only the products and strategies which find prospects. Following are some of the techniques:
- Create affiliate networks (use click banks)
- Review revenue tips and prospects
- Make a proper survey before you start
- A management software is a must with the following functional attributes: (a) generating links (b) commission calculations (c) banner displays (d) administration reporting (e) mailing functions (f) payment processing (g) blocks frauds and cheats on net
On the customer base, one should observe the following:
- Track service/quality product
- Reliability of payment
- Money back guarantee (if not satisfied)
- Merchant reputation
- Resource promotion
- After sales service
These strategies might just be able to give you some cracking results and enable you to earn loads of money. So, integrate them into your affiliate marketing plans and see whether they work.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/top-10-money-making-strategies-for-affiliate-marketers-322487.html
About the Author: Pawel Reszka
If you would like to make money online starting today, then check out this Google Cash method right now.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
The Hidden Rewards To Search Engine Optimization
One of the best ways to make money is through the use of the internet. It is not as easy as it sounds but it can be if you know what you are doing. The internet has grown so much in the past couple of years that it has become such a huge information source that very rarely will you not find what you are looking for. The internet also makes it easier for people to do their shopping for the holidays. And it also can help us find things we need to know in everyday life. The internet is also a great place to start a business and become very wealthy. You just have to hit the right markets and know how to run a business online using Google as a search engine.
Google has been the leader in all of the search engines and has been the role model for any other search engine to compare to. The reason is because some how they found a way to weed out all the garbage information and place the quality information to show first when someone does a search for certain keywords. Although you can never keep track of Google and their algorhythms there are ways to help your site look great for Google and your customers. You can improve your rankings on Google by making your website both an information site about your items you are selling and also a place that only sells the product you are offering. The main thing here is to make your website rise above all the other competition. You will have to do this in the eyes of Google and in your customers' eyes as well. It may take some time to find out which Florida SEO companies are right for you and which are in your price range.
One of the best SEO services that you can have is the art of onsite optimization. Some people have some knowledge of how this works but most people do not. This is a very touchy task because it involves the back end of the website. You first will want to do some keyword research and find the keywords that are going to bring you the most traffic and at the same time not impossible to rank for. Once you have the keywords you will then need to place some title tags on each page of the website. Use heavy keywords that are real popular in the title tags. This is one of the most important tool you can use to get you website SEO ready. Next you will need to add the keywords in the Meta tag details for each page. Once that is done you will then need to add a meta tag "description" of each page. Use a brief 2 sentence description using some keywords as well. These three steps will help your site get found by Google.
Once you make your site looking great and easy for Google to find then you can start the second phase of the SEO services and that will be the offsite optimization. Although it may take some time for your website to start seeing results don't get discouraged. The results will happen as long as you follow the rules and be ethical and don't try to cheat the system.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/the-hidden-rewards-to-search-engine-optimization-320116.html
About the Author:
Learn the advantages of hiring Ft Lauderdale SEO Companies to make your online marketing company more successful. Learn the ropes of Search Engine Optimization and how to implement it on your website to generate more revenue.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
How to Make Money with Your Blog
How to Make Money with Your Blog: The Ultimate Reference Guide for Building, Optimizing, and Monetizing Your Blogis a great resource if you plan to use a blog for any money making adventure. From the review:
Whether you’re an experienced blogger or an absolute beginner, you can make money with your blog. Simply follow the step-by-step advice of two expert bloggers and industry insiders who have launched many successful sites of their own. They’ll walk you through every step of the blogging process, and they’ll even share their most profitable tricks of the trade.
- Generate income using various types of ads
- Tap into the power of other blogs
- Maximize searches for more hits—and more money
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Google Adsense Tips
Do you want to make more money in your home business. If you sell stuff online one program that does pay pretty good, is easy to implement, and pays on time is Google Adsense.
In this article we will look at how to make more money than you currently are and how to do it with Google's pay per click advertising program.
1. First of all you need to read the program policies and procedures. Google is very strict as to what they will and will not allow you to do when you are placing ads on your website. Be sure and do it right the first time and save you grief down the road.
2. Locate your ads in the hot spot of your website. This means above the fold and as close to the upper left hand corner as possible. The reason is very simple. To get people to click on your ads they need to be seen.
3. Use the rectangle 336 X 280 ad in your premium spot. This is the most popular ad and will earn you the most money.
4. To make more money everyday with Google you want to limit the number of Google Adsense ads to 3 or less per page. The more ads you have on a page the less they begin to pay. It benefits both you and Google to have the highest paying ads showing up on your page.
5. You want to blend your ads into the page. People have become blind to ads on the internet. They just do not care about them. By blending your ads into the page you've a better chance to get them clicked on. This may mean using a white border.
6. When you surf the internet what color are you used to seeing links. Blue! Keep your links blue and people will be more apt to naturally click on them because that is what they are clicking on all day long.
7. Google offers some really neat features for tracking and one of them is channels. If you have more than one ad unit per page, you can set up a channel for each unit. Again you are better off to stay at less than 3 ads per page. Channels let you know what ads are working best.
8. Check your stats periodically. You want to see your click through rate and your cost per click. By knowing how many visitors it takes to get a click and how much you are making per click you can decide if having a Google Ad on that page is worth it or not.
9. Make sure the ads that are coming up are relevant to the page. If not consider if you have content that is bad, or if your meta tags are set up wrong. Maybe even your header graphic has a bad alt tag.
Google Adsense is definitely one way to make more money everyday on the internet. If you do it right it can help your business as well.
Making money with Pay Per Click advertising is not just limited to Google. I wanted to quickly mention that many ppc companies have affiliate programs that pay you for placing ads on your site.
Some of the more popular ones include Bidvertiser, 7Search, SearchFeed, and Yahoo Marketing. Each one have their own rules and regulations so be sure and know them before you go placing ads on your site. Google themselves will not let you place similar ads on a page with their ads so be careful.
The fastest and easiest way to make money online is to get paid for a click. This article should give you some ideas on how to do that.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/9-google-adsense-tips-to-make-more-money-everyday-318426.html
About the Author:
Do you really want to make more money online? Here is Pasi's Special Offer you really don't want to miss: http://specialoffer.wealthathomer.com
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Blogging for Profit
Most bloggers use amateur blogs as opposed to professionals, though I am not sure what a 'professional' blog is. If you are blogging for profit, whether as an amateur or professional, then you are best advised to run your blog from your own website. This involves downloading the blogging software to your web space.
This however is a personal opinion, and many people prefer the simplicity of operating their blog from a blog host such as Blogger, run from Blogspot, or Wordpress from Wordpress.com. There is little to do other than to register and make your posts. The only negative is a lack of individuality and formatting of the look of the blog and the tools that you can use on it.
The majority of people who use the internet for fun, as opposed to business, believe that they have few opportunities to make money from their blog. Their blog is to communicate with others, and to express their views online in a way that was not possible prior to around the turn of the millennium. Sure, blogs were in existence before then, but mainly in specialized applications, and it was sometime between 1998 and 2001 that blogging changed from personal diaries of internet 'experts' to what we now regard blogging as being.
However, anyone who has a blog (reminds me of a Cilla Black song) can use it to make money, or if that is against your ethos of using the internet for fun, then to 'cover your expenses' as our councillors, governors and other governmental individuals like to express it! As they do, you can cover your expenses very, very well if you utilize the monetization possibilities of blogs as they can be used.
To repeat, in order to do so to the maximum of your ability, you must run your blog from your own web host. Most amateur blogs are created using Blogger from the Blogspot site or Wordpress from Wordpress.com, but if you can run your blog from your own website, then you have a lot more flexibility in the content of your blog than otherwise.
In fact you get many more benefits other than the possibility of profit by uploading blogging software to your web space (I am now going to use the term 'website' for web space since that is more familiar to most people, though the terms mean different things). If your blogging software is to your own website rather than that that of a blog provider such as Blogger or Wordpress, you have a lot more flexibility in how you want to format your blog, and in the features contained within it.
Let's look at what you get if you upload Wordpress, for example, to your own website. In order to do so you must have control over a MySQL database, that most good web hosts provide, and know how to use an ftp program. Otherwise it is plain sailing to upload the software. What you get is the ability to edit the CSS and HTML that determine the content and appearance of your blog posts, your sidebars, headers and footers. An immediate obvious benefit of this is the ability to add Adsense blocks that bring income to your blog.
Another is the possibility of adding links to any affiliate products you are promoting, and in fact links to anything you want your visitors to link to. These could include your websites or other blogs, in addition to adverts of various kinds. You can offer these in permanent pages, at the start or end of each individual post, or even within posts, though the most effective adverts and Adsense blocks are those included in the sidebars and footers of each post.
Another significant benefit that many bloggers find they get by downloading the software is that they can upload any of thousands of page templates for their blog that are totally editable. You can use Photoshop or a clone to edit the graphics, mainly the header, to customize it exactly for you, and can also edit the entire html to render the template unique to you. That is not possible with a blog hosted by the blog provider.
You can add any of thousands of widgets to your blog, another facility not open to you if you run a provider hosted blog. These widgets range from automatic SEO, thru auto XML site-map generation to blog pinging and literally any feature you could wish for. It is the ideal medium to advertise your product or service, and make money while you sleep or when you are on vacation. Imagine waking up in the morning, checking your bank balance, and finding a lot more there than when you went to bed!
That is blogging for profit, and it is not difficult. Amateur blogs can be used for profit as well as the professional blogs. There is no distinction if you are hosting your own blog. You can make money 24/7 while you sleep, and your widgets can also include an opt-in form that builds up your email list from those that are interested in your product or niche, but not quite ready to purchase. Keep in touch with them while you sell to others.
That is one great benefit of blogging.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/amateur-blogs-and-blogging-for-profit-318134.html
About the Author:
One of Pete's great interests is the use of blogs to entertain, educate and to make money, and his webpage Create A Blog provides more benefits of hosting your own blog in addition to showing you exactly how to set up your own blog and to make money from it.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
5 Ways to Succeed in Affiliate Marketing
Just what are the things needed to be able to succeed in affiliate marketing? What must one have within himself to be able to do well in this industry? There is a lot of competition involved in affiliate marketing, and to be able to rise above the norm, one must be equipped with just the right stuff necessary to propel him forward. There are five things one must ultimately possess if he wants to achieve the glory he is yearning for in this business, and these five things are a must for him to possess to be able to stand out among the rest.
The very first quality one must possess if he wants to try his hand in affiliate marketing is the willingness to learn and be trained. Treading through unfamiliar territory is scary stuff if one is not properly equipped, and he might get lost amidst a jungle of the unknown. Learning the tricks of the trade is also an important aspect of the game, and one’s willingness to know it all will give him far better advantages in the business than he could ever imagine.
The second quality one must possess is the willingness to invest time and effort even if direct results do not seem at all apparent. Although several months may pass without good news, it is important for one who has his foot in the industry to hold on and wait. It is this quality which would save him from giving up after investing a lot of himself in the business.
The third quality one must possess is self-determination. If one wants to conquer the affiliate marketing world, he must have the ability to push himself ahead. Never having to say die is a quality each and every affiliate marketer should possess, and the ability to motivate oneself into scaling greater heights is an ability which would actually take an affiliate marketer there.
The fourth quality one must possess is discipline. If one knows how to teach himself to work everyday with all the energy he can muster, then he is close to achieving what he has set his heart to having in the first place.
The fifth and last quality one must possess is optimism. Negative attitudes and hearsays should not discourage an affiliate marketer from pursuing what he has to in order to make life better for himself and for everyone concerned. Neither should anyone influence his attitude toward the business, because once in it, it is a must for him to be the captain of his ship and the master of his soul.
The ingredients to success in a business such as affiliate marketing are diverse and manifold, but the most important thing one needs to be able to make it big lies in himself alone. It is he who has the capacity to do everything to be able to realize his prospects, and the desire which fuels his heart in doing so is the gasoline which should keep the engine going.
Affiliate marketing is all about putting one’s fate into his own hands. The right attitude is the key to being able to steer one’s ship into that part of the ocean where a certain kind of serenity can be found, one that permeates the atmosphere as the ship sails calmly on.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/affiliate-programs-articles/5-ways-to-succeed-in-affiliate-marketing-316029.html
About the Author:
Tim Ng is a seasoned affiliate marketer and a student of Ewen Chia – “the World’s Top Affiliate Marketer”. Tim frequently guides people in internet marketing forums on how to make money through affiliate marketing. For more information, do refer to http://www.wealthtreasure.com
The very first quality one must possess if he wants to try his hand in affiliate marketing is the willingness to learn and be trained. Treading through unfamiliar territory is scary stuff if one is not properly equipped, and he might get lost amidst a jungle of the unknown. Learning the tricks of the trade is also an important aspect of the game, and one’s willingness to know it all will give him far better advantages in the business than he could ever imagine.
The second quality one must possess is the willingness to invest time and effort even if direct results do not seem at all apparent. Although several months may pass without good news, it is important for one who has his foot in the industry to hold on and wait. It is this quality which would save him from giving up after investing a lot of himself in the business.
The third quality one must possess is self-determination. If one wants to conquer the affiliate marketing world, he must have the ability to push himself ahead. Never having to say die is a quality each and every affiliate marketer should possess, and the ability to motivate oneself into scaling greater heights is an ability which would actually take an affiliate marketer there.
The fourth quality one must possess is discipline. If one knows how to teach himself to work everyday with all the energy he can muster, then he is close to achieving what he has set his heart to having in the first place.
The fifth and last quality one must possess is optimism. Negative attitudes and hearsays should not discourage an affiliate marketer from pursuing what he has to in order to make life better for himself and for everyone concerned. Neither should anyone influence his attitude toward the business, because once in it, it is a must for him to be the captain of his ship and the master of his soul.
The ingredients to success in a business such as affiliate marketing are diverse and manifold, but the most important thing one needs to be able to make it big lies in himself alone. It is he who has the capacity to do everything to be able to realize his prospects, and the desire which fuels his heart in doing so is the gasoline which should keep the engine going.
Affiliate marketing is all about putting one’s fate into his own hands. The right attitude is the key to being able to steer one’s ship into that part of the ocean where a certain kind of serenity can be found, one that permeates the atmosphere as the ship sails calmly on.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/affiliate-programs-articles/5-ways-to-succeed-in-affiliate-marketing-316029.html
About the Author:
Tim Ng is a seasoned affiliate marketer and a student of Ewen Chia – “the World’s Top Affiliate Marketer”. Tim frequently guides people in internet marketing forums on how to make money through affiliate marketing. For more information, do refer to http://www.wealthtreasure.com
Friday, January 25, 2008
One Way Links Lead to Website Traffic
The name of the game on the internet is traffic and every webmaster realizes this. It does not matter what the niche of your site, if you do not have traffic they will never see what you have to offer them. If your site is an online business the simple reality is that you must get traffic to be successful.
Where can this traffic come from?
Email marketing is one source. You can generate a certain amount of traffic to your website by offering opt-in email newsletters and e-zines. Sending newsletters to your contacts will help keep your website in their mind and keep them returning.
Search engines are a major player in internet traffic and sent around 60% of overall traffic to those websites that are successful. The best thing about this method is that it is free and lasts, but you need to be indexed highly for relevant search terms by the search engine to get any traffic.
Links from other websites to yours can be a major contributor for traffic to your website. Traffic generated this way is typically more targeted to your niche and best of all it helps your site get indexed higher in search engine results to drive traffic in that way also.
The focus of the rest of this article will be on strategies for link building. How do you get those one way links to help you get indexed higher in the search engines?
The first and most effective way of building links is by submitting your site for review in the quality directories such as Yahoo!, Business.com and the Authority Directory. Submitting to quality web directories does not take that much time and will get you a high quality link to your website. You should be aware that there are many directories on the internet and they are not equal. A link from a quality directory can be the equivalent of links from hundreds others.
Another method of link generation is by writing articles that are rich in keywords related to you niche and them submit those to various article directories. Choose those articles directories of quality just like a web directory and Ezines is one of the best know. When you use this method make sure that you write a nice bio for the resource box that contains a link to your website with good keyword text.
Participation in online forums that relate to your niche is another good way to gain links that can bring traffic to your website. Make sure that you use the signature option with the forum to place a link back to your website. By being professional and making relevant and intelligent comments forums can be a powerful tool for your website. Do not make comments just for the sake of spamming them with your links. Comments in forums need to be relevant to the topic and offer something to the other readers. The same rules apply for blog post comments.
Always keep reading and searching out additional information as the internet can change quickly. Links will always be a stable source of gaining attention and traffic for your website.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/one-way-links-lead-to-website-traffic-315455.html
About the Author:
Increase your Websites online presence today by getting listed on The Authority Business Directory. Plus, don't forget to submit link for inclusion while you are visiting.
Where can this traffic come from?
Email marketing is one source. You can generate a certain amount of traffic to your website by offering opt-in email newsletters and e-zines. Sending newsletters to your contacts will help keep your website in their mind and keep them returning.
Search engines are a major player in internet traffic and sent around 60% of overall traffic to those websites that are successful. The best thing about this method is that it is free and lasts, but you need to be indexed highly for relevant search terms by the search engine to get any traffic.
Links from other websites to yours can be a major contributor for traffic to your website. Traffic generated this way is typically more targeted to your niche and best of all it helps your site get indexed higher in search engine results to drive traffic in that way also.
The focus of the rest of this article will be on strategies for link building. How do you get those one way links to help you get indexed higher in the search engines?
The first and most effective way of building links is by submitting your site for review in the quality directories such as Yahoo!, Business.com and the Authority Directory. Submitting to quality web directories does not take that much time and will get you a high quality link to your website. You should be aware that there are many directories on the internet and they are not equal. A link from a quality directory can be the equivalent of links from hundreds others.
Another method of link generation is by writing articles that are rich in keywords related to you niche and them submit those to various article directories. Choose those articles directories of quality just like a web directory and Ezines is one of the best know. When you use this method make sure that you write a nice bio for the resource box that contains a link to your website with good keyword text.
Participation in online forums that relate to your niche is another good way to gain links that can bring traffic to your website. Make sure that you use the signature option with the forum to place a link back to your website. By being professional and making relevant and intelligent comments forums can be a powerful tool for your website. Do not make comments just for the sake of spamming them with your links. Comments in forums need to be relevant to the topic and offer something to the other readers. The same rules apply for blog post comments.
Always keep reading and searching out additional information as the internet can change quickly. Links will always be a stable source of gaining attention and traffic for your website.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/one-way-links-lead-to-website-traffic-315455.html
About the Author:
Increase your Websites online presence today by getting listed on The Authority Business Directory. Plus, don't forget to submit link for inclusion while you are visiting.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Never Let Someone Else Host Your Blog
Curious as to whether you should host your own blog, or blog from a remote server? This is a question more and more people are asking themselves after witnessing just how far the blog has come. Note that there are just as many disadvantages as there are advantages to doing both. But being experienced in a little programming, we believe blogging on your own server is far more advantageous for a couple of key reasons.
Reason #1: Limited Blogging Resources and Tools
Posting content through a remotely hosted blog requires that you relinquish a tremendous amount of control over how messages look and work. This is mainly because a remotely hosted blog by design is built to accommodate hundreds of thousands of bloggers. For such a big volume of activity, it can only afford to offer the very least. A blog that offers an extensive amount of features to a large number of people consumes much more resources than what its own servers can provide -- ultimately running the risk of major crashes.
Even something as simple as a low-graphic poll can consume an insurmountable amount of bandwidth if over 100,000 bloggers decide to offer one to their visitors. Imagine for example how much bandwidth a popular blog already consumes. **Popular** blogs can consume anywhere from two to three times that a week. If a blog server hosts 500 popular blogs, its capabilities would reduce with each use of a simple poll!
Resources simply aren't an issue with a self-hosted blog these days. With your own server, you can deck out your blog with as many plugins and widgets as your heart desires without having to fear server crashes or time outs. In fact, you shouldn't consume any more bandwidth with your own hosted blog than you would consume with your own hosted website.
Reason #2: Limited Money Making Opportunities
We couldn't count the number of people who want to monetize their blogs if we wanted to. The simple fact is that everyone and his "mom" wants to monetize their blog but the ugly reality is that many (free) remotely hosted blogs don't allow it. Limited resources could play a factor in this restriction, however since most monetized campaigns call upon the resources of a 3rd party, this restraint is mostly censorship. Blogs that curb 3rd party ads generally want to limit advertisements to their own products and/or services.
With your own blog of course, you can advertise whatever, whenever, where ever. You're only restricted by your conscience (or by the data revealed from your visitor stats) and the only policies that you have to follow are the policies of your 3rd party ad providers. This accordingly opens doors for tremendous opportunities with Adsense, Amazon, and any number of the hundred other affiliate schemes we have available.
An example restriction that you'd still have to watch for -- even with your own blog -- is Adsense's restriction against multiple ads. Although your own blog gives you the freedom to advertise what you want, Adsense restricts you from advertising more than a specific number of Google ads at a time and advertising Google ads with other competitive schemes like Bidvertiser. We find that Google ads used in conjunction with Amazon books ads, Clickbank affiliate links, and AuctionAds eBay products create a nice restriction-free mix of quality wares.
You will of course want to experiment. Just remember that all the plugins that your own blog comes with helps create a unique visitor experience. Open opportunities often lead to abuse, so keep a watchful eye on how your audience reacts to the ways that you customize your blog. Don't overdo it with ads and don't overburden your visitor's Internet connection with unnecessary plugins.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-articles/never-let-someone-else-host-your-blog-309449.html
Gobala Krishnan is a blogging and WordPress niche marketing expert. Subscribe to his free Wordpress Blog Tips or register as a forum member at his Easy Wordpress Forum.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
A Beginners Guide to Blogging
To Blog, or not to Blog? If you are thinking of sharing your thoughts and feelings with the rest of the world, there are a few questions you should ask yourself to get the most out of your new venture. Ever since blogs have become a popular way to reach out to the world, everyone seems to want to use them as a way to make money, rather than offer anything of real value to the public. As soon as google released AdSense, everyone feels the need to spam their readers with all types of ads, and most of the time their blog acts almost more as a journal than anything else. So, If you are looking to make some money with your writings, at least make sure you are developing some kind sort of valuable content to ensure people recognizing your worth, and thus feeling more compelled to click on your page.
Your best bet for a beginners space to start blogging is on Blogger.com. There are a few other styles of blogs you can use, free or paid, but I swear by Blogger and their service. Blogger offers a great service, with a simplistic interface, and plenty of customization options, all for free. Set your title, your URL, and just start blogging.
Do you want to follow a certain subject matter of your articles, or are you just going to follow a chaotic path of things you will post to the world? Your title should reflect this, so people will know what to expect from your page. When I started, I had roughly three articles already in the works, and I released one every other day, always maintaining a healthy level of professionalism in each.
Now that you have your blog, a direction for your writings, and a few articles line up, you just need some readers. Many people quit blogging after a month or two because they realize that no one is coming to read their work. What most people never realize is that there are a couple of simple steps you can take to start earning those visitors now.
There are a plethora of blog directories out there created to solve just this problem. Go to google and search 'Blog Directory' or 'Blog Submit' The list should be populated with many sites that allow you stop by, submit your site, and give a brief description. Most sites take less than 30 seconds to use, and the payoff is worth it.
Secondly you should practice being active in your blogging community. Blogger adds a little toolbar to their blogs that allows you to randomly browse all of the blogs in their network. Your best bet is to take 20 or 30 minutes, and browse through other blogs, and leave meaningful, applicable comments to their content. These are the most effective hits to your page because you went out to earn them. The more links you have leading to your site, the more valuable it will become.
There you have it. I wish you the best with your blogging, and hope you become a success to yourself in the Web Log World.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/blogging-articles/a-beginners-guide-to-blogging-297753.html
About the Author:
by Robert Abby
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Affiliate Sales- Reviewing Clickbank Products
Clickbank is the world's largest internet provider of digital products. Everyday many products are added to Clickbank's marketplace for Affiliate Marketers to evaluate whether they want to promote that product or not.
Those that are new to Affiliate Marketing go to Clickbank and then try to sort through all the products and then set up campaigns and web sites to promote them. Expectations are huge and all the hype that takes place with the "pitch pages" of the products can lead Affiliate Marketers down a path of self destruction.
Only a small percentage of people promoting products on Clickbank actually make the "big bucks". Those on the outside of this group don't know what they have done wrong and after much effort, give up.
To assist those just starting out, there is a few things that can help in determining whether a product on Clickbank is worth promoting and has the potential to make money. By using the following key points as a check list when reviewing pitch pages, it is easy to evaluate a good quality pitch page versus one that won't convert for the Affiliate Marketer.
Key #1 - Understanding Keywords
This is a given when it comes to AdWords and promoting any product. If your keywords are not relevant to the product you are promoting, no one is going to buy the product. You have to look at this from the customer's point of view. If they type in a keyword in the a search engine and your product comes up, but when they open up the pitch page and the keyword didn't match up with what they are looking for, they will just hit the "back" button on their computer and move on. You just lost a sale.
Key #2 - The Headline
Does the headline stand out? Does it capture your attention? Does it create a desire for you to want to read more? If it doesn't, it's time to look for another product to promote. If you aren't interested in reading the full pitch page, neither will be your customers.
Key#3 - What's in it for me?
Again, put yourself in your customer's shoes. Think about the benefits and features of what the product is promoting. Does it match up with your keywords for relevance and does it create a "what's in it for me" desire to learn more. How does it benefit your customer?
Key #4 - Is there a unique selling proposition?
Products that offer a unique selling proposition will sell much better than anything else. What is unique about this product that other products are not offering? How can you capitalize on this to gain a niche that others will miss out on?
Key #5 - Are there testimonials?
Are there testimonials? These are important to show credibility of the product being sold. A few are really good, too many and it can overwhelming and they will not be read.
Key #6 - Is there a guarantee?
Even though this is important for your pitch page and customers really look at them, Clickbank requires all products sold to have a 56 day return policy. Now, if the guarantee is for longer than 56 days, it would catch my attention.
Key #7 - Is there a call to action?
It's amazing how many pitch pages I have seen that have not had a call to action. It's really hard to make a sale if you don't instruct a customer on what to do to make the purchase.
Key #8 - Are there "exits" off the pitch page?
Phone numbers, email address', text links to other web pages, and opt-in boxes for newsletters, free offers, and trials are considered "exits" off of the pitch page that benefit the seller and not the affiliate marketer. Look for all "exits" to make sure they benefit both the seller and the affiliate marketer.
Again, as an Affiliate Marketer, use these keys as a checklist to do your research on your products. By taking the time to do this research, a new Affiliate Marketer can be well on their way to success.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/reviewing-clickbank-products-306182.html
Ann Moss is Vice President and a professional coach for Mastermind Pros (http://www.mastermindpros.com). Mastermind Pros coaching will show you how to make an income using affiliate marketing techniques through live, interactive daily conferences. Let us guide you on the path to online success.
How to Use Two Tier Affiliate Programs
To those who are not familiar with affiliate marketing, two-tier could be a new term to you but to those who are involved in this kind of money-making experience know that it provides a steady stream of income. Two-tier is an enticing feature of a particular affiliate program wherein, affiliates are allowed to sign-up additional affiliates below them. So that when the sub-affiliates otherwise known as second tier affiliates, earns a commission, the affiliate above receives a commission too.
In two-tier systems, the first tier of commission is just like in the usual affiliate program. The sole difference is that it has an additional tier/s or sub-affiliates, whereby marketers also gain a commission once the people that the additional tiers referred to the program generate sales. Theoretically, affiliate programs can have multi-tier programs with infinite number of tiers, however, there are practical limitations. As tiers increase, the affiliate program draws more webmasters who are mostly interested in gaining profit from other’s work and effort.
Two-Tier affiliate programs are also recognized as Multi-Level Marketing. When you sign-up for an affiliate program, you are identified as the first tier and the person that you have recruited or encouraged to sign up is the second tier. If there are additional tiers, then the system can now be regarded as multi-level marketing (MLM). But today, MLM isn’t as effective and successful as it was several years ago. It is because at present, affiliates can freely select from thousands of affiliate programs and they can quickly switch from one program to another.
You are however, wrong if you’re thinking that you can depend on your second tier to do the job for you. So if you want to use two-tier affiliate programs to your advantage and generate more income by encouraging sub-affiliates to sign-up below you, make sure that you carefully choose your affiliate merchant. Pick those merchants who generate a stable stream of high quality products, give high or just commissions, offer real time tracking, furnishes you with a proven and tested advertising arsenal and treat their affiliates very well. You can also sign-up for the merchant who gives high visitors-to-sales conversion rate.
It is also advisable if you engage yourself with a web merchant that has a user-friendly website which you can access anytime to monitor your statistics including visits and sales. And if possible, choose the one with powerful marketing tools which you can use in promoting their products.
You’re just wasting your time and effort and worse, damaging your integrity once you promote poor affiliate programs because your visitor will surely presume that the product or service you are reselling must be dreadful too. That’s the reason why it is important to pick first-rate affiliate programs. Through these, you can not only build up a good relationship with your visitor, but also, you can easily get more tiers to sign-up under you. You should also be cautious of some affiliate programs that give more importance on the profits to be earned in taking on other affiliates than on the income from sales, because you’ll eventually find out that someone has already closed those sales without informing you. Usually, this kind of affiliate program offers a very low first-tier payment but a sky-scraping second-tier commission.
If you want to start an affiliate program of your own, you have to decide whether it will be a single tier or two-tier affiliate program. Who am I to say which of these two programs are better? But let me tell you the benefits you could get out of two-tier affiliate program.
First, your profit will increase due to increased sales from the customers that your second tier has referred. Second, you have a much broader customer base to which you can sell your products and services. You gain more and stable income because the customers referred by your affiliate and sub-affiliates could probably develop a lifetime loyalty on your site and your products. Plus, you have an army of sub-affiliates who will promote and resell your products and services to their visitors and subscribers.
Two-tier programs have been a proven winner and should be the number one choice for the budding affiliate, as well as for the affiliate program managers. When you start gaining profits from your site as well as your tiers, this is now the right time to say that you have used two-tier affiliate program to your advantage.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/how-to-use-two-tier-affiliate-programs-to-your-advantage-306543.html
Steve is the CEO & Editor in Chief of http://www.articleland.co.uk and http://www.informationbooth.net. He is offering a free ebook on his site entitled Article Marketing Avalanche, a great read, a great book, go get it now.
Monday, January 14, 2008
YouTube- Business Blog vs. Normal Website
Great video discussing the many business advantages of a blog.
Labels:
blogs,
business blogging,
ecommerce,
internet,
internet sales,
online income,
online sales
On Site Search Optimization - 11 Practical Tips
Google has raised the bar. If you misspell a word, it tells you. If you perform a search returning millions of results, they prioritize the results by showing you the most relevant page (usually). Compare that to most internal site search features on eCommerce sites. Not only can they not handle misspellings, they usually do a poor job of ranking results. Combine a poor site search feature with a confusing navigation, and you've got a usability nightmare. Why optimize your internal site search? For one, some research suggests internal site search users convert 3 times better than users who don't use search, assuming their query returns relevant results. Below I've gathered up 11 ideas for improving your internal site search feature.
1. Know What Visitors are Searching For: Optimizing internal site search begins with understanding what visitors are searching for, how often, and why. Do users resort to site search because of poor site navigation? Are certain queries performed over and over? Your website analytics must answer these questions (Google analytics recently launched a site search feature). In addition, track what percentage of search queries return no results. As you improve this feature, you’ll have a metric to benchmark your progress.
2. Intelligent Search Suggestions: An intelligent site search feature, that suggests common searches as you type, is an excellent usability feature that can prevent website visitors from making queries that return no results
or irrelevant items. Checkout Foodnetwork for a great working example of an AJAX intelligent search feature.
3. Show Non-Product Results: If you analyze your log files, you’ll likely find that many search queries using your internal site search are not related to products. For example, visitors will commonly search for terms such as “return policy” or “employment.” Make sure your site search can display results from your site content as well as your product database.
4. Handle SEO Keyword Searches: If you rely on SEO or PPC to drive site traffic, make sure that your internal site search can return results for the keyword phrases you rank for or bid on. For example, if your site ranks for “ipod accessories”, you may find that visitors immediately perform that same query on your internal site search. If the search returns no results, you’ll probably lose your visitor.
5. Filter by Department, Size, & Color: It can be frustrating when a site search query returns too many results. Allow your visitors to filter down the results to increase the relevancy. Common filter criteria are age, product
department, color, and size.
6. Sorting by Price, Age, & Rating: At times, prioritizing search results is more important than narrowing them down. Many customers will expect to be able to sort by price, the newness of the products, or user submitted ratings.
7. Handle Misspelled Search Terms: By analyzing searches that return no results, you should be able to identify commonly misspelled search terms. Because search engines such as Google have become sophisticated enough to
suggest corrected spellings of words, your customer may expect the same from your site.
8. Eliminate Expired Page Errors: There’s nothing worse than hitting the back button on a browser, and getting “This page has expired” error. This preventable error occurs frequently on search pages that submit queries via the “post” method.
9. Search by Item Number: Make sure your site search can handle item number queries. When a user enters an item number that matches a product in your inventory, take them directly to the product page rather than the search results.
10. Show Last Search Query in Search Box: After a user performs a search, populate the search form field with the exact query the customer entered. This will allow them to realize if they make a typo when searching, and easily adjust the search query.
11. Focus on Short Tail Searches: While long tail searches have been the focus of organic SEO for quite some time, you may find it more effective to optimize for more frequently searched keywords. You may find that a small percentage of unique queries make up a large portion of overall queries. In other words, grab some low-hanging fruit by optimizing for the most frequently searched terms on your site.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/web-design-articles/on-site-search-optimization-11-practical-tips-303414.html
About the Author:
Justin Palmer is a Web Marketing consultant who writes an
e-Commerce and Website Marketing webblog. Justin offers informational internet
marketing products such as an
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The Top 4 Mistakes Made By Internet Marketing Newbies
If you are new to internet marketing you may find yourself a little overwhelmed. There is so much to learn, but there are 4 mistakes that are the biggest barriers to online success. If you can learn to avoid them you will succeed online, because the rest will work itself out.
Internet Marketing Mistake #1: FAILURE TO TAKE ACTION
The number one reason that new internet marketers don't succeed is that they never get started. To succeed in internet marketing you need to take action. It almost doesn't matter what action as long as you actually start something and follow through on it.
If you don't put your product on a website, you won't sell it no matter how much you have learned. If you don't find some product to sell, you won't succeed no matter how much you know about product creation or affiliate marketing. The point is if you do nothing, you will gain nothing. Take action!
Internet Marketing Mistake #2: TRYING TO BE PERFECT
Another major mistake new internet marketers make is they try to be perfect. Just a few more tweaks of the site and then it will be perfect. Just a few more, just this little adjustment, you can go on and on. Nothing you do will ever be absolutely perfect. If you wait until you think your product is perfect or you wait until your website is perfect you will always be waiting.
Nothing is perfect, but it doesn't have to be perfect. Does it do the job it is supposed to do? Does it look like it will sell a product? Then that's good enough to start with. Trying to be perfect is really another way of procrastinating. Get it going. You can improve the product or the website or anything else as you go along. Nothing happens until you finally decide to move ahead.
Internet Marketing Mistake #3: AFRAID YOU DON'T KNOW ENOUGH YET
Many new internet marketers don't ever get started because they think they need to know everything before they start. They buy every course and every ebook they can get their hands on. They study and read and study and read, but that is all they ever do. You will never know everything there is to know about internet marketing. Learning is an ongoing process. You will learn more by doing than you ever will learn from a course or a book. Just start and the knowledge will come.
Internet Marketing Mistake #4: AFRAID OF FAILURE
This may be the mistake that holds more new internet marketers back more than any other mistake. They are afraid if they market their product it will be a failure, so they never market it. How can you know something will be a failure before you try? If you don't try it's guaranteed you will fail.
New internet marketers, heck even great internet marketers fail alot. But there is no such thing as failure. All failure means is the next time you need to make some changes. It was failure that ultimately taught every internet marketer how to really market. Failure allowed them to find out what didn't work so the next time they could do different things that would work.
If you are aware of the 4 mistakes that most new internet marketers make, then you are already ahead of the curve. Don't fall into those traps.
Get started, don't try and be perfect, don't worry about how much you don't know and don't be afraid of failure. If you can do those things avoiding the 4 mistakes, you will be on your way to online success.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ecommerce-articles/the-top-4-mistakes-made-by-internet-marketing-newbies-and-how-to-avoid-them-303449.html
To find out how you can successfully make a living online, and follow a successful and highly profitable advice to making money online, talk with Ray Johnson - Google.com No.1 Ranked eSeller: http://www.ray-johnson.co.uk/
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Sunday, January 13, 2008
How to Blend Adsense Ads With your Website
Adsense is a wonderful opportunity for you to generate additional income for your website. It doesn’t cost you anything is the best part! Adsense is also very simple. You have to complete an application with Google and be accepted to host advertisements for other businesses. Then you simply add lines of code to the html on the pages of the website where you are willing to have advertisements. With that all in place, how do you blend the Adsense Ads into your website so they don’t stick out like a sore thumb? You don’t want them to distract the consumer from what you are offering on your website.
You may not be aware of it, but you have a lot of say in how the advertisements are placed on your website including the placement, format, color, and style. There are many places on a website to put Adsense Ads. Some prefer to place it on the top of the page and others like the bottom of the page. Along either side of the text for your website is convenient too. Since we read from left to right, the right side is more common as it will attract attention as the eyes move across the page.
According to Google Adsense, the most effective location is at the top of the page because the entire ad can be seen. Often parts of it are hidden when on the sides unless the mouse is used to scroll over the information. This can be distracting to the consumer and lose the effectiveness of the advertisement. They also recommend using different colors for the ads to differentiate it from your website materials, but to use colors that compliment each other.
The format can be modified to make it different or the same as your website. Some advertisement hosts like everything to be in the same style and size to give a symmetrical look to the pages. Others like to have their information completely distinct from the advertisements. Both are effective so it is only a matter of personal preference as to how you want your website to appear. Colors including the background can be changed to make everything work together well. You might have to experience a little to come up with the right design you are happy with.
You want to blend the Adsense ads enough that they look natural appearing on your website rather than appearing to be out of place. If they don’t look natural they can be distracting to the consumer. They also won’t be effective because consumers don’t trust what doesn’t look professional when it comes to the internet. This could be damaging to your own sales on your website so pay close attention to this issue. It is a good idea to ask some others for feedback on how the information appears to them on your website. You should avoid placing ads to where they appear to be banners.
Adsense offers you some useful tools as well to get everything to blend. The Google Adsense Preview tools allows you to test the layout of your website with the ads in place. This gives you the opportunity to change anything that is ineffective before your consumers view in over the internet. You can also contact their customer support 24/7 for questions or concerns you may have.
Adsense is a great way for your website to generate additional income by offering to host advertisements for other businesses with similar products and services to offer consumers. You are still in control of the layout and design of your website.
What makes the idea of participating in Adsense more appealing is the fact you have the ability to change the color, format, and style of the ads placed on your website.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/online-promotion-articles/how-to-blend-adsense-ads-with-your-website-263442.html
Terry Detty, 42, enjoys his time away from work and getting out for a breath of fresh air occasionally. Need Search Engine Marketing, SEO Software or Credit Fix.
You may not be aware of it, but you have a lot of say in how the advertisements are placed on your website including the placement, format, color, and style. There are many places on a website to put Adsense Ads. Some prefer to place it on the top of the page and others like the bottom of the page. Along either side of the text for your website is convenient too. Since we read from left to right, the right side is more common as it will attract attention as the eyes move across the page.
According to Google Adsense, the most effective location is at the top of the page because the entire ad can be seen. Often parts of it are hidden when on the sides unless the mouse is used to scroll over the information. This can be distracting to the consumer and lose the effectiveness of the advertisement. They also recommend using different colors for the ads to differentiate it from your website materials, but to use colors that compliment each other.
The format can be modified to make it different or the same as your website. Some advertisement hosts like everything to be in the same style and size to give a symmetrical look to the pages. Others like to have their information completely distinct from the advertisements. Both are effective so it is only a matter of personal preference as to how you want your website to appear. Colors including the background can be changed to make everything work together well. You might have to experience a little to come up with the right design you are happy with.
You want to blend the Adsense ads enough that they look natural appearing on your website rather than appearing to be out of place. If they don’t look natural they can be distracting to the consumer. They also won’t be effective because consumers don’t trust what doesn’t look professional when it comes to the internet. This could be damaging to your own sales on your website so pay close attention to this issue. It is a good idea to ask some others for feedback on how the information appears to them on your website. You should avoid placing ads to where they appear to be banners.
Adsense offers you some useful tools as well to get everything to blend. The Google Adsense Preview tools allows you to test the layout of your website with the ads in place. This gives you the opportunity to change anything that is ineffective before your consumers view in over the internet. You can also contact their customer support 24/7 for questions or concerns you may have.
Adsense is a great way for your website to generate additional income by offering to host advertisements for other businesses with similar products and services to offer consumers. You are still in control of the layout and design of your website.
What makes the idea of participating in Adsense more appealing is the fact you have the ability to change the color, format, and style of the ads placed on your website.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/online-promotion-articles/how-to-blend-adsense-ads-with-your-website-263442.html
Terry Detty, 42, enjoys his time away from work and getting out for a breath of fresh air occasionally. Need Search Engine Marketing, SEO Software or Credit Fix.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Top Adsense Tips And Strategies
Google Adsense has made a huge impact on internet advertising and it is not short of being a revolution. The fact that more and more people are using Adsense today is the proof of its success. It is a concept that can provide businesses, small and large with a good ROI and generate targeted traffic by creating a high visibility over the internet.
You should start applying Adsense if you have been losing money instead of gaining in any kind of affiliate programs. Google through its Adsense service is providing high quality and relevant ads, which match up to the content on your website. To add to this is the search engine, which will take care of most of the searching. Another salient point is that you will not have to spend too much time choosing various types of ads for your website pages. Google's Adsense process makes it easy for you because it doesn't involve codes like it is the case for several affiliate programs.
Adsense Tips
AdSense is something on the lines of a set and forget arrangement thanks to the state-of-the-art technology used by Google. Here are some strategic tips of what to do with Google Adsense and what not to do with it.
1. While working on Adsense, you should try and avoid default settings, instead work towards customizing your ads.
2. When you are writing the content, think about your reader and then target your content through Adsense.
3. One mistake that most businesses or people make is looking at AdSense as a competitor; instead you should look at it as a partner that is going to help generate revenue for your business and create visibility over the internet, and in fact provide you with a winning edge over your actual competitors.
4. You need to position the ads correctly. This is highly important if you want to profit you're your Adsense campaign. You need to place your ads where you feel there is a higher probability for people to see it.
5. With Google, you can place three instances of AdSense code per page. You should use this to your advantage but remember you need to also bring a variety to the implementation.
6. If you have implemented the code on your Adsense ads then refrain yourself from clicking on the ad. Note: Google is extremely sensitive to click fraud.
7. One of the things that many people try is game the system. Google is aware of most of the things or tricks that people apply and is notorious for pursuing people caught doing a click fraud.
Here is a list of Don'ts:
1. Don't try to implement your AdSense code in a palce where people won't be able to see it.
2. There are many people who try to offer incentive to visitors so that they click on the AdSense ads. This is a no-no!
3. Never beg people to click on your ad
4. Never place your AdSense ads on empty pages.
Making money from the Rates
The Google Adsense ads can be easily customized, which is one of the reasons for its popularity. They can also be placed anywhere on your web page but it is always advisable to place them where people will be able to see them and click on them. You can always experiment a little with themes & colors and of course the placement but you should never go overboard. Too much of experimentation can kill the main purpose.
But before you can start with Google Adsense, you need to be aware of the rates, which can vary. Your Adsense strategy should revolve ideally around the rates because you will receive your payments per click and it will all depend on how much you are willing to pay per click to place an advertisement using AdWords. The minimum that advertisers pay is around 5 cents and it can go to as much as $10, and even more. For example: lawyers are paying around $75 for using the keyword mesothelioma.
You can sign up for your Adsense account by clicking on the below mentioned URL: https://www.google.com/adsense/
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-articles/top-adsense-tips-and-strategies-302419.html
About the Author:
Don't join any income opportunity until you read these work at home reviews. Discover how easy it is to make money online.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
How Tagging and Pinging Work
A must read if you are using social bookmarking as part of your marketing strategy.
Tagging and pinging are common terms used in social bookmarking and web publishing, and it's important to learn how to do both effectively when you need the top rankings on sites and search engines. Search engines and social bookmarking aggregators work in very similar ways, and the most effective strategy for gaining prominence in either of these is to code your copy correctly!
TAGGING: WHAT IS IT?
Developing search-engine friendly copy has become even easier with the introduction of tagging widgets on a variety of web publishing interfaces. Tagging is simply a process of breaking down your submissions into keywords. Keywords of relevance are usually general in scope, and will make your copy fit into a variety of indexes and categories with a few simple tweaks.
Consider tagging to be a condensed version of your main idea. This is an effective approach when you are trying to make sense of the process, and the best way to do it is to start with your heading and title. Your title will serve as the main source of indexing by search engines, and you can make it stand out even more by adding relevant tags.
As a general rule, you'll want to make sure you are also using the appropriate tags and meta-tags in descriptions and heading titles. Both Yahoo! and MSN use these areas to index anything you publish, and it's important that they are relevant and free of spam.
Still, tagging within a social bookmarking site offers multiple benefits. Many social bookmarking sites such as Digg and Technorati make use of tag clouds that break out each article and section it off to different categories. Using keywords such as 'internet' or 'computer' for example will automatically list your article or submission in both areas. It's just another way for users to find articles or entries of relevance; whenever they click on one of these tag clouds, a full listing of articles with those tags will show up on their screen.
A growing number of portals and websites are offering tagging systems to index content. This is especially helpful for blogs and other larger resources where context is highly important. Think about the millions of articles and entries on the web today, and how difficult it would be for someone to find your specific article if they could only find you with a few keywords. tagging helps to create context and relevance within different categories, and once a user has reached the social bookmarking platform; it makes it much easier to find you.
More people are becoming comfortable and familiar with using tag clouds to group and find the information they need; your website can reach a much wider audience when it's easily found in a variety of areas, instead of just under one content page or index.
As each social bookmarking site indexes and aggregates the incoming data, patterns of tags start to emerge; the more popular a particular theme or idea becomes, the larger the tag cloud. You'll notice this as you review different tag clouds, and you'll see some words standing out far more than others. This means that more people are submitting articles with the same tags, and more people are viewing them. it's an easy way to monitor and review how well specific topics are doing at any given time.
TAGGING: HOW TO DO IT
Tagging each entry you submit will become a habit, but you do need to make sure that the tags are relevant and free of spam. Only use keywords that actually apply to your entry; if you start using extra words simply to gain exposure or search engine placement, another user may report it and you may be forced off the network.
Think of tagging as labeling all of your data; you are creating an easily index-able system so that search engines and social bookmarking sites can find and place your article. Breaking down your article into a 'notes' form is a very effective strategy for rising to prominence!
You'll need to break down your main idea into general topics, then narrow it down to more specific keywords. Titles in your article are a good way to start, and you do not need to include words such as 'the', 'it', or 'a'. If you do, the tagging system will usually just take them out. Be sure to pick keywords that classify your submission the best; while there are no limits to the number of tags you can add, it's important to limit them to only those of relevance.
PINGING: WHAT IS IT?
Pinging has quickly become a popular activity with the social networking boom, and in most cases it is an automatic process. Pinging is the process of identifying your IP address and making sure that it is a valid address for search engines. Pings identify the web address to various hosts, and once the address is verified, it can be networked and updated in search engines and indexes.
Bloggers make use of pinging when in cases where posts are not updated automatically. Pinging allows the user to update search engines and various indexes that a new blog posting has been submitted. This is necessary for indexing purposes only, and can help search engine spiders and indexers 'pick up' your submission much faster. Old search engine strategies required manually entering sites and submissions for pinging; today, however, most publishing platforms take care of this process automatically.
Sean S. Sampson provides valuable resources, and information to help the home business owner, and online business owner prosper with their business. For more information about Social Bookmarketing, please go to www.makinglotsofmoneyonline.com
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