Automate Your Internet Business for Passive Revenue
In 5 Easy Steps
The amazing growth of the Internet has created new found opportunities for millions of businesses who previously would have never been able to compete in the global marketplace. Yet while the low entry and marketing costs have truly leveled the playing field for many entrepreneurs it has also created a staggering amount of competition.
In fact, the average person, at least, those who live in metropolitan areas, is exposed to more than 3,500 marketing messages a day. That's 24,500 messages a week and 1.2 million each year.
And to make online sales even more difficult, marketing studies have shown that it takes nine or more impressions for your business to be remembered by a potential customer. This means follow-up is essential. But in today’s world this type of relentless follow up for the average business owner is not often practical. Fortunately there is a solution that many online businesses are using every day – online marketing automation.
Imagine being able to capture new leads on your website, build customer confidence through automated sequential responses, deliver products digitally while you sleep and track all of your prospects and clients without lifting a finger. For thousands of online businesses this happens every day.
In today’s competitive environment, automation is not a luxury; it’s a requirement for keeping the competitive edge you need. In fact, the benefits of automation are so numerous you can’t afford to ignore them.
Five Keys to Online Success:
1. Capture Email Addresses. Your list is your goldmine. It is critical to all your marketing and is literally your most valuable asset. To build your mailing list it is essential that you make a compelling offer. “Sign up for my mailing list” is no longer enough. Try something like this: “Free Special Report: The 5 Keys to Dramatically Boosting Your Website Traffic in 30 Days”
Through online automation you can offer digitally downloaded special reports, e-newsletters, mini-educational courses, or free trials to entice visitors to share their name and email. When their data is entered, it is automatically placed in your database and can be programmed to trigger autoresponders which are one or multiple automated messages. Share your privacy policy below your opt-in box as well as assurance that they can unsubscribe at any time. And of course, never spam anyone.
2. Set Up Sequential Autoresponders. A very effective way to build trust with your prospects is to offer a mini-course which delivers content-rich, relevant information to your opt-in subscribers. These automatically-distributed email messages not only provide content, but also motivate prospects to revisit your site for the latest offers. And of course once they click through to your website you can offer more content delivered via audio, video and other multi-media options as well as offers for your products and services.
Since studies shows that 48% of sales people give up after the first contact and 25% after the second, this is a perfect way to make sure your follow-up stays consistent. Best of all, after you program the series it will perform flawlessly for you for years to come. There are many great automated systems on the web like: http://www.EasyWebAutomation.com
3. Take Payments Online. It has never been easier or more affordable to set up online payment systems through PayPal or your own merchant account. And once you set up your payment account it very easy to sell products or services online by purchasing an online shopping cart. A shopping cart will allow you to capture email addresses, automate responses, track leads and then sell you product to customers around the world 24/7. These systems are surprisingly easy to setup, operate and maintain.
4. Track and Measure Your Marketing. Over the years I have trained and coached hundreds of business owners in marketing through my Guerrilla Marketing Coaching Program. Through a series of assessments it has become very clear that most businesses fall short in the area of measurement.
Here are some questions to consider:
1) How many unique visitors come to your website?
2) How many visitors opt-in to your mailing list or order your products?
3) When you send emails, how many are opened and how many people actually click through to your website?
The reason these metrics are so important is because if you don’t know these stats, you won’t know what to improve. It could be variables like the pulling power of your headlines, the copy or navigation on your website. You won’t know until you start measuring. Many of today’s automated systems include ad trackers which automatically calculate your click-throughs and conversion statistics.
5. Free Up Your Time to Work on the Most Important Parts of Your Business
When you automate daily tasks you gain more time to focus on priorities for the strategic growth of your company. This newfound discretionary time comes without your money-making activities coming to a halt, or hiring and training staff.
Also when your business becomes automated, your presence becomes optional leaving you time to actually take a vacation while making money at the same time. With most systems you can quickly and easily check your sales and orders from any web browser.
The Internet is a competitive, ever-changing marketplace. The right strategy combined with powerful and practical systems gives you an edge over your competitors. You’ll attract more customers and spend less time, money and energy winning them over. Automation services and software leverage the best technology available to make you money day and night, whether you’re there or not.
Thursday, 15 January 2009
Article Writing: An Important Part Of Your Marketing Arsenal
Unless you are totally clueless about the internet and how it works, you must realise that everyone trawling the net is searching for one thing and that is information, i.e. CONTENT!
In fact there is not really any other business building tool that compares with writing articles when it comes to building your online business, read on to discover why.
Regularly adding keyword rich quality articles on your website will help boost your search engine ranking, as search engines are always looking for updated content to add to their index. Also, other site owners are much more likely to link to you if you provide something other than just one long sales letter.
A constantly updated website with quality content will not only attract more people to your site, it will keep them there longer and will cause them to come back more often. If for example you have a site about health and fitness, would you not check back if the site was constantly being updated with more articles about how to get yourself fitter?
When it comes to FREE ways of generating traffic to your site, there are few that can compare to submitting your articles to article directories and ezine publishers. Simply include a “resource box” at the end of your article and away you go.
A resource box is simply a 3-6 line biography about you and/or your web-site it should include a link to your site or maybe even instructions on how to subscribe to your newsletter. An important point to remember when writing your resource box is to specify clearly that each article is to be reprinted ‘as is’ within your attached resource box.
This method of traffic generation can and will bring you a lot of traffic. Let us say for example you have written a great article about your favourite hobby, and an ezine with a subscriber database of 30-50,000 picks it up. Many of those subscribers will read your article, and if it’s a good quality one may well be intrigued enough to click the URL included in your resource box. That is totally FREE traffic for very little effort; it does not get much better than that!
It is also a good idea if you are adding articles you have written for your website to include a resource box on those articles too. This means that people who visit your site will be enabled to use your ‘copy’ with their sites too, as long as they include your resource box.
Articles can be easily used for generating newsletter subscribers. Simply take a group of related articles and compile them into a ‘special report’ that you then give away as a bonus for subscribing. In the same vein, add articles to an autoresponder sequence and give it away as an ‘email course’. In both cases sprinkle affiliate links throughout the text and link it to an autoresponder to create an “automated income stream”.
You may be aware that having a mailing list is one of the most important ingredients for a successful online business. But, having a list is not enough; you need to build up trust with your list. This is often known as ‘cultivating’ your list.
By regularly sending quality articles to your list you will become viewed upon as an expert in your business field, and build up a level of trust with your subscribers over time. The effect will be that your subscribers will be keen to take up your special offers, promotions and other products and services. The key is NOT to offer your list a product too early in the relationship, just so you can make a quick buck. A list of people that trust you is as good as money in the bank, you should not squander it!
After reading this article it should be clear that writing articles is a sure fire way to helping build your business a lot quicker. With the declining effectiveness of many of the other online marketing methods, article writing will continually prove its worth to YOUR business.
In fact there is not really any other business building tool that compares with writing articles when it comes to building your online business, read on to discover why.
Regularly adding keyword rich quality articles on your website will help boost your search engine ranking, as search engines are always looking for updated content to add to their index. Also, other site owners are much more likely to link to you if you provide something other than just one long sales letter.
A constantly updated website with quality content will not only attract more people to your site, it will keep them there longer and will cause them to come back more often. If for example you have a site about health and fitness, would you not check back if the site was constantly being updated with more articles about how to get yourself fitter?
When it comes to FREE ways of generating traffic to your site, there are few that can compare to submitting your articles to article directories and ezine publishers. Simply include a “resource box” at the end of your article and away you go.
A resource box is simply a 3-6 line biography about you and/or your web-site it should include a link to your site or maybe even instructions on how to subscribe to your newsletter. An important point to remember when writing your resource box is to specify clearly that each article is to be reprinted ‘as is’ within your attached resource box.
This method of traffic generation can and will bring you a lot of traffic. Let us say for example you have written a great article about your favourite hobby, and an ezine with a subscriber database of 30-50,000 picks it up. Many of those subscribers will read your article, and if it’s a good quality one may well be intrigued enough to click the URL included in your resource box. That is totally FREE traffic for very little effort; it does not get much better than that!
It is also a good idea if you are adding articles you have written for your website to include a resource box on those articles too. This means that people who visit your site will be enabled to use your ‘copy’ with their sites too, as long as they include your resource box.
Articles can be easily used for generating newsletter subscribers. Simply take a group of related articles and compile them into a ‘special report’ that you then give away as a bonus for subscribing. In the same vein, add articles to an autoresponder sequence and give it away as an ‘email course’. In both cases sprinkle affiliate links throughout the text and link it to an autoresponder to create an “automated income stream”.
You may be aware that having a mailing list is one of the most important ingredients for a successful online business. But, having a list is not enough; you need to build up trust with your list. This is often known as ‘cultivating’ your list.
By regularly sending quality articles to your list you will become viewed upon as an expert in your business field, and build up a level of trust with your subscribers over time. The effect will be that your subscribers will be keen to take up your special offers, promotions and other products and services. The key is NOT to offer your list a product too early in the relationship, just so you can make a quick buck. A list of people that trust you is as good as money in the bank, you should not squander it!
After reading this article it should be clear that writing articles is a sure fire way to helping build your business a lot quicker. With the declining effectiveness of many of the other online marketing methods, article writing will continually prove its worth to YOUR business.
Are You Following up Effectively?
One of the successful methods in online marketing
is collecting visitors' emails in exchange for
a free report or an ebook and follow up with
new products and services.
It's a known fact that 75% of visitors don't
buy on their first visit and it might take
up to 7 follow ups before they buy anything from you.
A well-written follow up letter will do three things:
·improve your response rate
·better your site's ranking with Search Engines
·and increase sales
So, what should you write in your letter that
could do all the three above?
First, create a headline for your follow up letter.
Put yourself in your reader's shoes, would you
click on it if it was in your inbox along with some
other newsletters your reader may have signed up for?
If you would then go with it and make sure that it's
easy to understand and yet enticing enough to get a click.
An effective follow up letter is the one that is written
from first hand, i.e. if you have tried the product,
it would be easier for you to recommend it, because
you would know all the benefits of it.
So, in your follow up letter tell your readers how it
helped you and how it can help them, too. If you
are promoting your own product it's even better, because
you already know how others can benefit from it.
Remember, people always look for solutions to their
problems and want to feel better.
After you have explained all the benefits of the
product place a link to your site if it's your own
product, or to your merchant's site if your are promoting
an affiliate product, warmly recommending them to click
on the link.
Keep your letter to the point, it's important that your
reader gets the message that you are trying to deliver.
Avoid your follow up letter from being too long, because
it might exhaust your reader and they might give up
before they reach the end.
Whatever you promote in your follow up letter it should
in some way pertain to your business, so that your
readers don't get confused when they read your message.
Once you have written it, read it yourself first and
have your friends read it too. If you are satisfied with
it set it to your autoresponder and fire it to your
subscribers. If it's not, then it probably needs some
more tweaking before it goes out to your list.
Your list will become an unlimited marketing source
that you can sell your products to over and again.
So, make sure that you have a reliable autoresponder
that ensures that your messages are delivered to your
subscribers.
Last word of advice
When your sample follow up letter is completed test it
and see if you receive a response rate you want. After
all e-mail marketing is all about tries and tests.
Wishing you success,
is collecting visitors' emails in exchange for
a free report or an ebook and follow up with
new products and services.
It's a known fact that 75% of visitors don't
buy on their first visit and it might take
up to 7 follow ups before they buy anything from you.
A well-written follow up letter will do three things:
·improve your response rate
·better your site's ranking with Search Engines
·and increase sales
So, what should you write in your letter that
could do all the three above?
First, create a headline for your follow up letter.
Put yourself in your reader's shoes, would you
click on it if it was in your inbox along with some
other newsletters your reader may have signed up for?
If you would then go with it and make sure that it's
easy to understand and yet enticing enough to get a click.
An effective follow up letter is the one that is written
from first hand, i.e. if you have tried the product,
it would be easier for you to recommend it, because
you would know all the benefits of it.
So, in your follow up letter tell your readers how it
helped you and how it can help them, too. If you
are promoting your own product it's even better, because
you already know how others can benefit from it.
Remember, people always look for solutions to their
problems and want to feel better.
After you have explained all the benefits of the
product place a link to your site if it's your own
product, or to your merchant's site if your are promoting
an affiliate product, warmly recommending them to click
on the link.
Keep your letter to the point, it's important that your
reader gets the message that you are trying to deliver.
Avoid your follow up letter from being too long, because
it might exhaust your reader and they might give up
before they reach the end.
Whatever you promote in your follow up letter it should
in some way pertain to your business, so that your
readers don't get confused when they read your message.
Once you have written it, read it yourself first and
have your friends read it too. If you are satisfied with
it set it to your autoresponder and fire it to your
subscribers. If it's not, then it probably needs some
more tweaking before it goes out to your list.
Your list will become an unlimited marketing source
that you can sell your products to over and again.
So, make sure that you have a reliable autoresponder
that ensures that your messages are delivered to your
subscribers.
Last word of advice
When your sample follow up letter is completed test it
and see if you receive a response rate you want. After
all e-mail marketing is all about tries and tests.
Wishing you success,
Are You An Internet Marketing Success Story?
If you do, you can't just focus on one aspect of Internet marketing. What I mean is, don't just think about ad copy or just about traffic generation. It takes an "all around" approach to succeed.
First, and foremost, you must get your website visitors' email addresses. Build your prospect list. Use not only a newsletter, but also use autoresponder ecourses, ebooks and reports. All should be given away; the only "payment" being their email address.
Put the signup forms for these ebooks, etc. on your navigation menu and on the content pages throughout your site. You never know which page your visitors will be seeing when they arrive.
Make each signup page a "sales" page. Why should they want the ebook or report? What are the benefits to them? Make it good.
Have great customer support. What? They're not customers? Well, not yet, but they could be. Treat each subscriber and contact as if he or she is the best customer in the world and that person will be more likely to remain your subscriber.
Provide some way for your website visitors to provide feedback. It could be a community blog, forum, or even just a contact form. Just make sure there is some way that your visitors can communicate with you. Make sure that the link to your contact form is on every page of your website.
These days, I don't recommend adding your actual email address to your site because of all the spam bots. They scour your site for your email and soon your inbox will fill up with junk.
Does your website look professional? If you just have a site full of blinking banners and ads, I don't believe you'll succeed in the long run. You need it to look nice - not fancy - just nice, and have valuable content for visitors. If you do, they'll come back.
What about popups? You can use popup windows, but don't go crazy with them. Personally, I do not stay on a site that has more than one popup. I have been on sites where so many windows appear that you can barely get away from the site. That is just plain rude in my book.
A word about promotion. In my opinion, the best way to promote your website is by writing articles. You need articles for your newsletter and to distribute to article directories and other publishers. This is how you get your "name" out in cyberspace...to the people who matter...the ones looking for good content for their own newsletters and websites.
And the most important key to success? Perseverance. Don't give up at the first problem, or even the second. Find a mentor. Ask questions. Do whatever you have to do...but hang in there! You WILL have your OWN success story!
First, and foremost, you must get your website visitors' email addresses. Build your prospect list. Use not only a newsletter, but also use autoresponder ecourses, ebooks and reports. All should be given away; the only "payment" being their email address.
Put the signup forms for these ebooks, etc. on your navigation menu and on the content pages throughout your site. You never know which page your visitors will be seeing when they arrive.
Make each signup page a "sales" page. Why should they want the ebook or report? What are the benefits to them? Make it good.
Have great customer support. What? They're not customers? Well, not yet, but they could be. Treat each subscriber and contact as if he or she is the best customer in the world and that person will be more likely to remain your subscriber.
Provide some way for your website visitors to provide feedback. It could be a community blog, forum, or even just a contact form. Just make sure there is some way that your visitors can communicate with you. Make sure that the link to your contact form is on every page of your website.
These days, I don't recommend adding your actual email address to your site because of all the spam bots. They scour your site for your email and soon your inbox will fill up with junk.
Does your website look professional? If you just have a site full of blinking banners and ads, I don't believe you'll succeed in the long run. You need it to look nice - not fancy - just nice, and have valuable content for visitors. If you do, they'll come back.
What about popups? You can use popup windows, but don't go crazy with them. Personally, I do not stay on a site that has more than one popup. I have been on sites where so many windows appear that you can barely get away from the site. That is just plain rude in my book.
A word about promotion. In my opinion, the best way to promote your website is by writing articles. You need articles for your newsletter and to distribute to article directories and other publishers. This is how you get your "name" out in cyberspace...to the people who matter...the ones looking for good content for their own newsletters and websites.
And the most important key to success? Perseverance. Don't give up at the first problem, or even the second. Find a mentor. Ask questions. Do whatever you have to do...but hang in there! You WILL have your OWN success story!
Affiliate Programs and How To Build An eBusiness Around Them
Two weeks ago, Mariangie Gonzalez sent in a question
"How do you market your Network Marketing business
so yours it's perceived as different from the rest of the reps
out there?"
In answer to her question the way to be perceived as different
was to set up an incentive package that was related to the
general theme of your affiliate or mlm progam. If you missed
out on that disucssion there is a huge blog entry about that
at http://www.profitspace.com/blogger.html.
What I want to do here is back up a bit...a sort of regrouping
you might say and go over what to look for in affiliate programs.
Affiliate programs are the easiest, fastest and most inexpensive
way for ANYONE, regardless of experience to earn money. What
I want to do is provide you with some insight as to what to look for
in a program.
Before we dive in and talk about affiliate programs I do want to
say something about starting a business regardless of whether
it is on or off-line. You NEED to possess passion for what it is
you are doing. If you jump into something for the sake of making
money you are going to end up resenting it. Starting a business
takes a lot of time and energy. If you are involved in something
that you are passionate about and believe in then those hours
don't seem so daunting. If you are in something just to make
a buck...those hours are going to seem very over-whelming to
the point where you hate what you are doing and will soon
resent the business you are in.
So...with that said, if you want to start something online then
look at what you are passionate about and what will juice you.
From there do your research and find affiliate programs that
align themselves to what you want to do.
Ok, let's look at affiliate programs ;o)
The BIG QUESTION...can you make money on-line through
affiliate programs?
Answer....YES
It is totally possible to make money on-line, there are all
kinds of articles and stories about people who have been
successful in making money through affiliate progarms.
It has nothing to do with getting in on the ground floor in
a particular program. It has nothing to do with having loads
of money to market your program. Yup, you are going to
have to have a marketing budget, that is just the cost of
doing business. What it boils down to is looking for programs
that:
1. provide products/services that are in demand
2. provide a recurring commission structure
3. promoting more than one program
4. having your own web site
So..let's look at each one of these and it will give you an idea
as to why these four traits are important to your ebusiness.
1. Products/Services that are in demand. This is pretty obvious.
If you don't have a market for your products/services then you
aren't going to make any money. If you want to know if there is
a market for the products/services you want to sell then do your
research. Look at site's like Overture.com. They have a great
advertisers area that provides you with a search criteria tool.
All you have to do is enter the keyword that is the general
them of your business and it will pop up a list of words that
people have used as search criteria, this will give you an idea
not only of a demand, BUT it will also give you an idea as to
what search terms people use for that general theme.
Another thing is to look at the trends that are happening around
us. Immediately what pops into my head is the fact that we are
getting older and are more health conscious. The health and
nutrition industry is huge and it is also a trend.
Have you every heard of The Popcorn Report? It was a book
written that talks about the trends and where they are heading.
One of the things Faith mentioned was the health and nutrition
industry and cottage industry (home based business) was going
to boom.
2. Commission Structure is key. Ummm, let me give you an
example to hit this home because it truly is important.
You are promoting a hot product from one of the top marketers
that sells for $29.95. You will earn a commission on the sale
of this product of 50% (let's say it works out to about $14.00
so I don't have to strain over math here). It's a one-time sale
which means after that sale is made you are having to go out
and find others to buy. You are always having to work your
butt off to get a "sale" for that product.
NOW...here is another example.
You are promoting an affiliate program that pays monthly,
something like ProfitsVaultMonthly, then this is what happens.
PVM is $29.95 per month and you earn money:
1. $20.00 PER MONTH per referral
2. You keep every penny you earn from selling the products
With the $29.95 product you are earning $14.00 for all your
marketing efforts in getting that sale. That's a one time
commission, make the sale and scream "next" to find yet
another buyer.
With a program that pays MONTHLY, you are earning $20
per month for that same customer, next month you earn
another $20 and so on. Get two join your affiliate program
and you're covering your own cost plus making a bit of a
profit.
Bottom-line go for those programs within your industry that
pay you a monthly residual commission. That way you are
earning money from the SAME customer base. If you are
going to spend hard earned money marketing your program
then you want to make sure that you are getting paid off
those efforts EVERY MONTH...not just a one time deal.
3. Promote more than one program. If you are promoting
just one program and no one buys from you then you aren't
making any money...pretty straight forward right?? But, if
you promote a few different programs that relate to the over-
all theme of your business then you stand a better chance
of making a sale. Let me give you an example:
I want to target the newbie ebusiness owner and provide
them with the tools they need to start a business on-line.
So...I think and ask myself "what does a newbie need?"
They need a web host, an autoresponder, something to
sell, leads, a list and incentive products. So, with that
information I set out to find those products/serivces and
set up a site...a NEWBIE MECCA you might say. Now
if I only set out to promote one of those progams and a
newbie already has it, then basically I just shot myself
in the foot...BUT. What if they didn't have an autoresponder
and saw that I had one that I promote, or they needed leads
or they needed to learn about using incentive products to
build a list. I just set myself up for the possibilities of
making money by offering a host of products/services and
not just limiting myself to just one.
See where I am going with this??
It takes more than just ONE income stream to make money.
You need to set yourself up with several ways to make money.
If a visitor doesn't need one product/service then you stand to
make something by offering other products/services that relate.
4. Your own site. You NEED a hub. I like the word hub actually.
I got the idea from the University of Alberta while I was a student
there. There was a central area within the University that had a
dry cleaners, barber, hair salon, and a couple of food kiosks and
a little general store deal. The Unversity tagged this as the HUB.
I am using HUB to describe what your site should be. YOUR
central area that promotes the programs you are affiliated with,
a landing area for your visitors where you can build your lists,
promote your program incentives, provide content that will help
your visitors...etc.
Now you are probably thinking "but, my affiliate program provides
me with a web page already to go."
Yup, they do. However...
1. are you able to make any sort of adjustments to that page that will
enable you to promote an incentive so that you can stand a part from
the pack?
NO...
2. MORE IMPORTANTLY...are you able to offer a report or eCourse
so that you can build your own list?
NO...
3. are you able to promote other programs, so if your visitor isn't
interested in that specific program you stand the chance of being
able to make a sale through another program?
NO...
That's three strikes right there.
Here is a fourth one for you to think about, if the above three weren't
enough. Let's say you quit a program, you quit that web page is gone
no big deal there. But, that means you are again having to start over
from scratch. IF however, you had your own HUB, you can add to or
discontinue programs BUT you still have your list building mechanisms
in place and you still have other programs that can bring in money. You
aren't always finding yourself starting over again from scratch.
Ok, one last thing I want to show you and then you can think about what
you just read ;o)
If you are a member of a mlm program you essentially have two
customer streams. You have those customers who are buying your
product AND you have those in your downline. Essentially you have
two different markets rolling at the same time, each with their own
specific needs. Your customers of course want your products and
you are selling them along with other things that tie in for that bunch.
You also have your downline which of course have the same products
as you...but their needs are a little different. They need guidance from
you as well as other things...like:
1. a web site of their own
2. a list building mechanism
3. leads
4. autoresponder
Are you seeing where I'm going with this???
YOU have the potential to create an even greater number of income
streams. You have this little market that will need these products
and services in order for them to do business...just like you. So,
find those services that will meet those needs for them and promote
them to your downline.
There you have it, the four main traits that, if you put them into place,
will put you in a better position to make money with your affiliate and
mlm programs.
This isn't rocket science and it works. Again, if you follow the steps
of the super affiliates you will find that these are the very same 4 traits
that they have in place. They don't have an inside track to anything
that you don't. Yes, they have been at it longer than you but that's
about all, they had to start from somewhere as well.
The ONLY difference that perhaps stands between YOU and THEM
is that they actually did what we just discussed above. They went
out and found products/services that had a good market size. They
went out and found affiliates programs that tied in and paid them a
monthly recurring income. They found more than just one program
to promote...AND they created their own HUB.
The blueprint is there for you ;o)
A great book that will help you peg yourself unique and different from
the rest of the pack is..."Super Affiliate Strategies...How to Generate
More Sales, Profits and Commissions For ANY Affiliate Program. It is
a good read and has some very valuable ideas inside. Check it out for
yourself http://www.profitspace.com/sas
"How do you market your Network Marketing business
so yours it's perceived as different from the rest of the reps
out there?"
In answer to her question the way to be perceived as different
was to set up an incentive package that was related to the
general theme of your affiliate or mlm progam. If you missed
out on that disucssion there is a huge blog entry about that
at http://www.profitspace.com/blogger.html.
What I want to do here is back up a bit...a sort of regrouping
you might say and go over what to look for in affiliate programs.
Affiliate programs are the easiest, fastest and most inexpensive
way for ANYONE, regardless of experience to earn money. What
I want to do is provide you with some insight as to what to look for
in a program.
Before we dive in and talk about affiliate programs I do want to
say something about starting a business regardless of whether
it is on or off-line. You NEED to possess passion for what it is
you are doing. If you jump into something for the sake of making
money you are going to end up resenting it. Starting a business
takes a lot of time and energy. If you are involved in something
that you are passionate about and believe in then those hours
don't seem so daunting. If you are in something just to make
a buck...those hours are going to seem very over-whelming to
the point where you hate what you are doing and will soon
resent the business you are in.
So...with that said, if you want to start something online then
look at what you are passionate about and what will juice you.
From there do your research and find affiliate programs that
align themselves to what you want to do.
Ok, let's look at affiliate programs ;o)
The BIG QUESTION...can you make money on-line through
affiliate programs?
Answer....YES
It is totally possible to make money on-line, there are all
kinds of articles and stories about people who have been
successful in making money through affiliate progarms.
It has nothing to do with getting in on the ground floor in
a particular program. It has nothing to do with having loads
of money to market your program. Yup, you are going to
have to have a marketing budget, that is just the cost of
doing business. What it boils down to is looking for programs
that:
1. provide products/services that are in demand
2. provide a recurring commission structure
3. promoting more than one program
4. having your own web site
So..let's look at each one of these and it will give you an idea
as to why these four traits are important to your ebusiness.
1. Products/Services that are in demand. This is pretty obvious.
If you don't have a market for your products/services then you
aren't going to make any money. If you want to know if there is
a market for the products/services you want to sell then do your
research. Look at site's like Overture.com. They have a great
advertisers area that provides you with a search criteria tool.
All you have to do is enter the keyword that is the general
them of your business and it will pop up a list of words that
people have used as search criteria, this will give you an idea
not only of a demand, BUT it will also give you an idea as to
what search terms people use for that general theme.
Another thing is to look at the trends that are happening around
us. Immediately what pops into my head is the fact that we are
getting older and are more health conscious. The health and
nutrition industry is huge and it is also a trend.
Have you every heard of The Popcorn Report? It was a book
written that talks about the trends and where they are heading.
One of the things Faith mentioned was the health and nutrition
industry and cottage industry (home based business) was going
to boom.
2. Commission Structure is key. Ummm, let me give you an
example to hit this home because it truly is important.
You are promoting a hot product from one of the top marketers
that sells for $29.95. You will earn a commission on the sale
of this product of 50% (let's say it works out to about $14.00
so I don't have to strain over math here). It's a one-time sale
which means after that sale is made you are having to go out
and find others to buy. You are always having to work your
butt off to get a "sale" for that product.
NOW...here is another example.
You are promoting an affiliate program that pays monthly,
something like ProfitsVaultMonthly, then this is what happens.
PVM is $29.95 per month and you earn money:
1. $20.00 PER MONTH per referral
2. You keep every penny you earn from selling the products
With the $29.95 product you are earning $14.00 for all your
marketing efforts in getting that sale. That's a one time
commission, make the sale and scream "next" to find yet
another buyer.
With a program that pays MONTHLY, you are earning $20
per month for that same customer, next month you earn
another $20 and so on. Get two join your affiliate program
and you're covering your own cost plus making a bit of a
profit.
Bottom-line go for those programs within your industry that
pay you a monthly residual commission. That way you are
earning money from the SAME customer base. If you are
going to spend hard earned money marketing your program
then you want to make sure that you are getting paid off
those efforts EVERY MONTH...not just a one time deal.
3. Promote more than one program. If you are promoting
just one program and no one buys from you then you aren't
making any money...pretty straight forward right?? But, if
you promote a few different programs that relate to the over-
all theme of your business then you stand a better chance
of making a sale. Let me give you an example:
I want to target the newbie ebusiness owner and provide
them with the tools they need to start a business on-line.
So...I think and ask myself "what does a newbie need?"
They need a web host, an autoresponder, something to
sell, leads, a list and incentive products. So, with that
information I set out to find those products/serivces and
set up a site...a NEWBIE MECCA you might say. Now
if I only set out to promote one of those progams and a
newbie already has it, then basically I just shot myself
in the foot...BUT. What if they didn't have an autoresponder
and saw that I had one that I promote, or they needed leads
or they needed to learn about using incentive products to
build a list. I just set myself up for the possibilities of
making money by offering a host of products/services and
not just limiting myself to just one.
See where I am going with this??
It takes more than just ONE income stream to make money.
You need to set yourself up with several ways to make money.
If a visitor doesn't need one product/service then you stand to
make something by offering other products/services that relate.
4. Your own site. You NEED a hub. I like the word hub actually.
I got the idea from the University of Alberta while I was a student
there. There was a central area within the University that had a
dry cleaners, barber, hair salon, and a couple of food kiosks and
a little general store deal. The Unversity tagged this as the HUB.
I am using HUB to describe what your site should be. YOUR
central area that promotes the programs you are affiliated with,
a landing area for your visitors where you can build your lists,
promote your program incentives, provide content that will help
your visitors...etc.
Now you are probably thinking "but, my affiliate program provides
me with a web page already to go."
Yup, they do. However...
1. are you able to make any sort of adjustments to that page that will
enable you to promote an incentive so that you can stand a part from
the pack?
NO...
2. MORE IMPORTANTLY...are you able to offer a report or eCourse
so that you can build your own list?
NO...
3. are you able to promote other programs, so if your visitor isn't
interested in that specific program you stand the chance of being
able to make a sale through another program?
NO...
That's three strikes right there.
Here is a fourth one for you to think about, if the above three weren't
enough. Let's say you quit a program, you quit that web page is gone
no big deal there. But, that means you are again having to start over
from scratch. IF however, you had your own HUB, you can add to or
discontinue programs BUT you still have your list building mechanisms
in place and you still have other programs that can bring in money. You
aren't always finding yourself starting over again from scratch.
Ok, one last thing I want to show you and then you can think about what
you just read ;o)
If you are a member of a mlm program you essentially have two
customer streams. You have those customers who are buying your
product AND you have those in your downline. Essentially you have
two different markets rolling at the same time, each with their own
specific needs. Your customers of course want your products and
you are selling them along with other things that tie in for that bunch.
You also have your downline which of course have the same products
as you...but their needs are a little different. They need guidance from
you as well as other things...like:
1. a web site of their own
2. a list building mechanism
3. leads
4. autoresponder
Are you seeing where I'm going with this???
YOU have the potential to create an even greater number of income
streams. You have this little market that will need these products
and services in order for them to do business...just like you. So,
find those services that will meet those needs for them and promote
them to your downline.
There you have it, the four main traits that, if you put them into place,
will put you in a better position to make money with your affiliate and
mlm programs.
This isn't rocket science and it works. Again, if you follow the steps
of the super affiliates you will find that these are the very same 4 traits
that they have in place. They don't have an inside track to anything
that you don't. Yes, they have been at it longer than you but that's
about all, they had to start from somewhere as well.
The ONLY difference that perhaps stands between YOU and THEM
is that they actually did what we just discussed above. They went
out and found products/services that had a good market size. They
went out and found affiliates programs that tied in and paid them a
monthly recurring income. They found more than just one program
to promote...AND they created their own HUB.
The blueprint is there for you ;o)
A great book that will help you peg yourself unique and different from
the rest of the pack is..."Super Affiliate Strategies...How to Generate
More Sales, Profits and Commissions For ANY Affiliate Program. It is
a good read and has some very valuable ideas inside. Check it out for
yourself http://www.profitspace.com/sas
8 Quick, Hot Reasons You Should Offer an E-mail Course Today
1. E-mail courses are generally quick and easy to create. Contents for your e-mail courses are everywhere -- old articles, interviews, information from doing research. You only need to know how to organize them and make the content easy to understand and follow.
2. You can append your sales letters at the end of your e-mail courses. People who take your e-mail courses can learn something valuable from you first, and when they're done, they will be more receptive to your follow-up letters.
3. E-mail courses can help you attract visitors to your Web site. You can't put everything in an e-mail course so you can actually place links within your e-mail course messages. These links can point to more information found on your site. You can promote your Web site's URL in each message.
4. E-mail courses can help you gain more subscribers for your e-zine. Make people aware that subscribers of your e-zine are always the ones to get first dibs on your e-mail courses.
5. You can run your e-mail courses hands-free. You just need to create and arrange your e-mail messages in the order you want them to be delivered to your participants, then put them in a sequential autoresponder. Your e-mail courses then become your 24/7 promoter!
6. E-mail courses can help you get leads and you can promote your products or services to these people. And by making your e-mail courses 100% opt-in, the risk of being accused of sending unsolicited e-mails is significantly reduced.
7. People won't ever need to download any special software before they can take your e-mail courses. All they need is an e-mail address. They can read your e-mail course lessons straight from their e-mail clients (Eudora, Pegasus, Outlook Express) or on the Web (Hotmail, Yahoo!Mail or any Web-based e-mail).
8. You can tailor your e-mail courses to promote specific products or services you are selling on your Web site. If your e-mail course consists of 10 lessons delivered in 10 e-mail messages, then people who take your e-mail course are exposed to your product or service 10 consecutive times. This definitely increases your chances of getting your product or service bought.
2. You can append your sales letters at the end of your e-mail courses. People who take your e-mail courses can learn something valuable from you first, and when they're done, they will be more receptive to your follow-up letters.
3. E-mail courses can help you attract visitors to your Web site. You can't put everything in an e-mail course so you can actually place links within your e-mail course messages. These links can point to more information found on your site. You can promote your Web site's URL in each message.
4. E-mail courses can help you gain more subscribers for your e-zine. Make people aware that subscribers of your e-zine are always the ones to get first dibs on your e-mail courses.
5. You can run your e-mail courses hands-free. You just need to create and arrange your e-mail messages in the order you want them to be delivered to your participants, then put them in a sequential autoresponder. Your e-mail courses then become your 24/7 promoter!
6. E-mail courses can help you get leads and you can promote your products or services to these people. And by making your e-mail courses 100% opt-in, the risk of being accused of sending unsolicited e-mails is significantly reduced.
7. People won't ever need to download any special software before they can take your e-mail courses. All they need is an e-mail address. They can read your e-mail course lessons straight from their e-mail clients (Eudora, Pegasus, Outlook Express) or on the Web (Hotmail, Yahoo!Mail or any Web-based e-mail).
8. You can tailor your e-mail courses to promote specific products or services you are selling on your Web site. If your e-mail course consists of 10 lessons delivered in 10 e-mail messages, then people who take your e-mail course are exposed to your product or service 10 consecutive times. This definitely increases your chances of getting your product or service bought.
7 Valuable Tips For Article Writers
1. Let your affiliates use your articles to earn commissions.
Simply make your articles available to your affiliates to publish in their ezines or on their web sites with their
affiliate links in your resource box.
You'll be able to increase the success of your existing affiliates.
You'll also be able to get your new affiliates started on the right track by providing them with a unique and powerful
way to begin promoting your business.
2. Post your articles on your site.
Not all article writers do this, but it's a great way to showcase your expertise and increase your visitor's trust in you.
It can also help you to get more new affiliate sign ups. Just let your visitors know that they can use your articles to earn commissions.
3. Write to one person.
A good way to draw your reader into your article is to write as if you're writing to a friend.
By doing this, your article won't turn out like a "business document", and you'll be able to make your writing more personable and get more traffic to your site.
4. Do an article swap.
You could swap an article to be published in another writer's ezine, or you could swap articles to be published on each others' sites.
5. Start an article announcement list.
Get more ezine publishers and webmasters to reprint your articles by running an email list that tells them when you've written a new article or articles.
Like publishing your articles on your site, your list can help you to get more new affiliates.
Your list can also keep your existing affiliates up to date on any new commissionable articles you have for them to publish.
6. Use autoresponders.
Make your individual articles and also a "master list" of your articles available by autoresponder.
Include your master list email address in your posts to article announcement lists, along with your publishing guidelines and other information.
That way you'll be able to further promote your past articles, and you'll get more of your articles published by webmasters and ezine publishers that enjoy your writing.
Autoresponders can also be used to publish your article announcement list (or ezine).
With broadcast capable autoresponders you'll be able to double opt in your subscribers, easily send out your
announcements, and your autoresponders can easily take care of your subscribe and unsubscribe requests.
7. Create ebooks.
For example, you could make an ebook compilation of your best articles on a specific topic such as ezine publishing or copywriting.
Add to the profit you get from your new ebook by publishing articles in it where you're able to earn commissions, or by
making it available to your affiliates to rebrand with their affiliate links.
Simply make your articles available to your affiliates to publish in their ezines or on their web sites with their
affiliate links in your resource box.
You'll be able to increase the success of your existing affiliates.
You'll also be able to get your new affiliates started on the right track by providing them with a unique and powerful
way to begin promoting your business.
2. Post your articles on your site.
Not all article writers do this, but it's a great way to showcase your expertise and increase your visitor's trust in you.
It can also help you to get more new affiliate sign ups. Just let your visitors know that they can use your articles to earn commissions.
3. Write to one person.
A good way to draw your reader into your article is to write as if you're writing to a friend.
By doing this, your article won't turn out like a "business document", and you'll be able to make your writing more personable and get more traffic to your site.
4. Do an article swap.
You could swap an article to be published in another writer's ezine, or you could swap articles to be published on each others' sites.
5. Start an article announcement list.
Get more ezine publishers and webmasters to reprint your articles by running an email list that tells them when you've written a new article or articles.
Like publishing your articles on your site, your list can help you to get more new affiliates.
Your list can also keep your existing affiliates up to date on any new commissionable articles you have for them to publish.
6. Use autoresponders.
Make your individual articles and also a "master list" of your articles available by autoresponder.
Include your master list email address in your posts to article announcement lists, along with your publishing guidelines and other information.
That way you'll be able to further promote your past articles, and you'll get more of your articles published by webmasters and ezine publishers that enjoy your writing.
Autoresponders can also be used to publish your article announcement list (or ezine).
With broadcast capable autoresponders you'll be able to double opt in your subscribers, easily send out your
announcements, and your autoresponders can easily take care of your subscribe and unsubscribe requests.
7. Create ebooks.
For example, you could make an ebook compilation of your best articles on a specific topic such as ezine publishing or copywriting.
Add to the profit you get from your new ebook by publishing articles in it where you're able to earn commissions, or by
making it available to your affiliates to rebrand with their affiliate links.
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