For a short time, I’m giving away free PDF copies of my internet marketing book, Street Smart Internet Marketing.

Here’s the link to download a copy:

How would you answer this question?

“You know you’re an internet marketer when…”

Here’s a few to get you started:

• You send your kids their allowance by Paypal.




• Your Mom asks you to email her your children’s Christmas gift wishlist and you embed it with affiliate links.




• You check domain name availability before naming your kids.




• You go to work in your underwear.




• You have trouble explaining to your friends what “you do.”

Let’s let it run for a week and then I’ll pick some winners and announce them here.

First place gets $100 to their Paypal account, second gets $50 and third $25.

Leave a comment and let’s see what ya got!

UPDATE:

Wow! Thanks for all your responses – we’re at just over 400 and counting.

It took well over an hour to go through them – but it was well worth it. There were some great… and very funny responses.

Here’s the winners:

First Place – Ruth H. ($100):

You know you’re an internet marketer when everybody else is looking for a job and you’re trying to get rid of yours

Second Place – Tim ($50):

…when the neighbors think you’re into something illegal when they observe you not going to work but having all the trappings of success.

3 Way Tie For 3rd Place – $25 Each:

Mitch – …every item at your garage sale ends with a ‘7.’

Flo – …when you add three ps’s to an email to your mother.

Preben – …your wife accuse you to be cheating on her with Alexa.

We’ll send an email to all the winners today so we can get them their prizes.

For more great contests (and content), you can sign up here for my RSS feed.

But, before I get more into it, I should mention that no part of this post should be considered legal advice and that you should consult your own legal counsel before taking any action.

Anyways, starting December 1, 2009 website owners who promote or endorse products as an affiliate can no longer do so without stating, in a clearly visible location, that they will be compensated financially should the visitor decide to buy the product after reading their endorsement.

Product sellers will also have to use extreme caution when using customer testimonials on their sales pages. For example, a testimonial like “I lost 27lbs in 10 days with the XYZ diet” or “My Uncle’s Grandma made $935 in just 48 hours using the ABC’s system” because even if the testimonial is 100% truthful and a grandmother did make $935 (and you have proof to back it up) the marketer must emphasize what the ‘average user’ can expect.

Therefore after the $935 claim, the product seller must state “Results not typical. The average user will never follow this system and the 5% who do, can expect to earn $1.43.”

Of course it is extremely difficult, meaning almost impossible to know what results the average user can expect – it is a fact that many people will buy a product and forget all about it a few hours later, and start using it as a coaster left to gather dust and spilled coffee.

Many other buyers will download, read, but fail to take action, therefore a product seller will never truly be able to demonstrate ‘typical’ results… leaving it safer not to use testimonials at all – if you are to comply with the new FTC Internet Marketing rulings. (If you cannot back up your testimonials with documented proof that the alleged success story did indeed use your product, don’t even think about using them).

This leaves many marketers with quite a dilemma – after all, some sales pages are little more than a long list of customer testimonials – and really, real world proof is one of the best ways to get people to buy.

What About Non-US Marketers?

I’ve always felt that US based marketers have had a tiny advantage over those of us who live in other countries… and now thanks to the FTC, it’s time to take that back.

All kidding aside, given that the FTC is a US Government body and cannot make laws for those residing outside the United States, everyone else can go on using testimonials till their heart’s content. I know I’ll keep using them and won’t be making any changes – except that maybe, I’ll throw in a few extra just to rub it in a little

Though, on the other hand, if you have affiliates, US based customers, web hosting, or shopping cart services that are based in the US, it might be wiser to consider complying with the new regulations, since theoretically, a website hosted by a US hosting company etc. could still be shut down.

To be completely safe and avoid your operation being targeted by the FTC a product owner would have to reside in a non US country, not sell to US residents, and have a merchant account or shopping cart based in his own country.

But really, I’m not going to worry too much about it. As long as your testimonials and proof and 100% legit and you have actual proof to back that up, I’m gonna keep it business as usual.

So How Can We, As Marketers Find a Way Around This?

There are a number of ways we can demonstrate our products to be of good value without claims from our friends or past customers that they made $XXX dollars or experienced XXX results in a remarkably short time.

Here are a few options we can use in the space where those testimonial boxes used to reside and keep away from the unwanted attentions of the FTC.

• A ‘character based’ testimonial is one way of filling up those testimonial boxes. I have received emails from clients thanking me for my follow-up support – they may have had trouble downloading the product or understanding a certain aspect of the system, and later kindly send an email thanking me for the fast support they received to solve their particular problem.

This will give you credibility as a vendor, and build confidence in your buyer, but I don’t recommend using too many of these – one or two would suffice as visitors will likely find it boring to read again and again how fantastic the vendor is- and therefore click away from the sales page.

Another idea that can work just as well as testimonials, is to use quotes, research or scientific studies to back up what you’re saying. If there’s a scientific study that proves that skinnier people live longer, more enjoyable lives, use that. Or if there’s a quote about the recession and how it’s worse than ever before, use that when selling your ‘how to make money’ product.

Here’s a few other ideas:

• Run cheap trial offers giving the user a taste of what he will get when he buys the full version. This is a good method of boosting sales – your sales copy does not have to be so long or involved when you are only asking the buyer to part with a few dollars for a trial period.

• Be absolutely sure your customer support is top notch. The standard way the FTC would monitor webmasters is through consumer complaints for deceptive advertising. If you respond to client’s queries quickly and ensure you resolve any issues they may have they are far less likely to make a formal complaint.

• Make your offer absolutely totally irresistible – when you are selling a first class item for a realistic price your sales letter can concentrate on the huge benefits the reader will receive when using your product, without you having to depend so heavily on testimonials to sell your amazing creation!

• If you are an affiliate endorsing products on your site or blog, be transparent. Simply state that although you do have a vested interest in endorsing the product, there are tens of thousands of similar companies also paying commissions but you chose to endorse that particular company because in your opinion, they sell the superior product. More importantly, buy and try the product.

Some bloggers and webmasters already use the following approach:

“If you like my site, please buy through my affiliate link.” and “If you don’t, here’s the direct link.”

Many have described excellent results using this method and people dig honesty.

And the Bottom Line?

The bottom line is “Don’t Worry!”

A quick scan through the ClickBank marketplace reveals many of the best selling products do not, and have never used customer testimonials.

Of the current 20 best selling products, at least 5 of them do not have any customer testimonials and concentrate on the benefits of the product itself, rather than what other customers are saying about it.

The ‘Fatloss 4 Idiots’ program which has consistently been at the top of the diet category since it’s launch does not have one customer testimonial on the page, and it is rumored the product has made well over $20 million for it’s owners in 2008 alone!

Transparency is never a bad thing, and the new policy could even improve sales in the long term as people feel less likely they are about to be scammed when buying online.

No matter how you look at it, it’s not the end of IM, but a slightly new beginning and I’ll for one be looking forward to the new marketing practices and techniques that will come out because of it.
икони

You can download it here: www.InternetMarketingGoneWild.com

If you want a little more info, here’s the teaser video:

Where are you now… and where do you want to be? What do you want to achieve in the next year? What are your goals for 2009?

Write them down somewhere specific where you’ll see them everyday. I know it might sound silly, but it works because it gets you thinking about how you’re going to achieve them and what it’s going to take to make it work.

Besides, goal setting is something that’s used by top performers all over the place. Top athletes create them. Million dollar CEO’s create them. And soccer moms create them too because they work and help to get more done and ultimately make you more successful.

Here’s the 3 steps to setting goals:

1. Define your goals.
2. Set mini subgoals.
3. Create an action plan on how you’re going to achieve them.

Always set performance type goals that are measurable and realistic to achieve. Don’t make them too easy, but you also don’t want them to be nearly impossible to achieve.

If you’re new to goal setting, you can use the SMART mnemonic to get help get you started. SMART stands for:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Relevant
• Time-bound

Because internet marketing is still a relatively new technology that’s constantly changing, I don’t like to plan too long term. In this business, you can’t. But you can set goals for what you want to accomplish in the next month. In the next 3 months, 6 months or even 12 months.

You might want to quit your job.

You might want to create your own product.

You might want to earn some extra income for a vacation.

You might want to become a recognized expert in your niche.

You might want to form a mastermind group.

You might want to find a JV partner for a new project

What do you want to do in 2009?

Here are a few of my goals for the New Year:

• To do $100,000 or more in online sales in February.
• To outsource more, work smarter and be able to take an extra day off each week by the end of the year.
• To add a minimum of an extra 25,000 opt-in subscribers to my list this year.
• To rewrite and republish my Street Smart Internet Marketing book as a hardcover (textbook style).
• To set up my business in such a way that I can spend 75% of my time working on the things that I enjoy doing most.

Goals are important, but what’s more important is how you’re going to achieve them. What’s it going to take to make them happen? What do you need to do to achieve them? Write that down as well and then work on setting it in motion.

Goal setting just doesn’t need to be limited to your business life, but can be done for your personal life as well. Maybe you want to pay off your mortgage or get married to a special someone or spend more time with your kids. How are you going to make that happen this year?

If you’re not a believer yet, goal setting and achieving is also an incredible motivational tool and in this business when many people are working from home, often by themselves, it’ll help keep you motivated, focused and on track. People who are laser focused and stay on track are often much more successful than those that aren’t.

So what are your goals for 2009?

Feel free to share some of them below- maybe you’ll inspire someone else and help to change their life.

Their answer was, “What the hell is _______? I’ve never heard of it! I replied, surely you’ve heard of _______? It’s been out for months and is a wildly successful technique used by many marketers.

In a sentence, their answer was that they don’t pay attention new fads or trends and stick to the tried and true online marketing techniques.

Now, I’ve never considered myself a person that jumps on the new best thing the second it comes out. I don’t own an iPhone, I don’t have an active MySpace page or a bazillion corny videos on YouTube. I don’t rush to the store to wait in line for days to pick up a brand spankin’ new Play Station or xBox.

Why?

Because every new fad you jump on requires time, effort, money and a whole new learning curve. Although learning is a big key to success in IM, excessive learning, AKA information overload, is not.

In my coaching program I have people ask all the time, Maybe I should try this, it’s all the rage or Maybe I should do that, everyone else is doing it.

I usually ask them if they’ve done it before, have any experience with it or know how it works. Their answer is a collective and resounding sounding “no! So why try it when you have a less than equal chance of failing vs. succeeding? Why not stick with something that’s practically guaranteed to work?

Don’t get me wrong – a lot of money can be made chasing fads and new trends, but a lot of money and time can also be lost chasing them.

Let me explain. Look at how wildly successful YouTube was and is. In a little of a year, it sold for a Billion (with a capital B) dollars. You might think that things like this happen all the time because you’re always hearing about it on the news.

There’s a reason it’s on the news because it’s extremely rare and not something that happens very often. It’s an extremely extreme example which makes it newsworthy.

To continue using YouTube as an example, there are videos on YouTube that get millions of views and make the producer a lot of money or give them a lot or recognition, but do you know how many videos there are that only get 100 or 200 views, total? Millions.

Same thing goes for people that chase fads. Some will be successful beyond their wildest dreams, but for every person who makes it, there will be hundreds, millions or more who fail.

If you can afford (with time and money) to chase after the best, newest thing, more power to you. But if you’re just starting out and are looking to make some money in your spare time, use the methods that are guaranteed to work:

Pick a niche. Find a problem. Create a product / service that solves it. Let people know about it. Make money.

Just something to think about before you jump on the band wagon for the next hottest thing.
ikoni

The following is a partial list of some of the websites, services and more which I use or visit on a regular basis. I have hundreds of sites bookmarked and will sort through them and update this list on a semi-regular basis, so bookmark this page and check back often.

I hope you find it helpful

Domain Name Registration

www.godaddy.com #1 domain name registrar on the net. Offers many other services including email, web hosting, merchant accounts, fax through email etc.

www.namecheap.com great place for online marketers to register domains as they don’t have some of the pitfalls / problems other registrars do when conducting online business.

www.1and1.com offers cheap domains as well as many other services (email, web hosting etc.)


Web Hosting

www.startlogic.com cheap quality hosting

www.lunarpages.com huge provider, good customer service

www.hostgator.com cheap; popular amount IM newbies

www.ipowerweb.com good all round host


Autoresponders

www.1startcart.com free trial, also offers tons of other available features like an integrated shopping cart, affiliate management and more.

www.aweber.com free trial; one of the most popular online.

www.mailloop.com installs on your own server.


Shopping Cart Software

www.1startcart.com free trial. This is the service I use which offers tons of other integrated features including autoresponders, affiliate management software, ad trackers, email broadcasting, payment processing and more for a low monthly price.


Stat Trackers

www.webstat.com free trial and/or free basic account.

www.statcounter.com 100% free; paid features also available


Affiliate Management Software

www.1startcart.com offers tons of other integrated features including autoresponders, ad trackers, email broadcasting, payment processing and more for a low monthly price.

www.assoctrac.com advanced software installs on your own server.


Ebook Compilers

www.ebookpro.com creates .exe files and offers real time protection

www.ebookmaestro.com free trial; creates “exe” ebook files from .html web pages.


Fax Thru Email

www.godaddy.com simple, easy, cheap and what I use.

www.myfax.com free trial


Business / Legal

www.corpcenter.ca Canada (trademarks, corporations, merchant accounts etc.)

www.legalzoom.com - United States (trademarks, corporations, LLC’s, copyrights, patents etc.)


Continuing Education

www.internetmarketingbook.com my new 300 page internet marketing book, Street Smart Internet Marketing, a must have if you are serious about internet marketing; only $20 + S/H.

www.marketingtips.com – the most popular internet marketing course on the net from the Internet Marketing Center

www.bigseminar.com self proclaimed biggest and best internet marketing seminar worldwide by Armand Morin.

www.buttcamp.com Internet Marketing Butt Camp with Tom Antion

www.millionairemind.com life changing money seminar by Harv Eker, a must for any business people, currently offers free tickets a $2,590 value. Many other seminars also available- this one is the introductory seminar.


Search Engine Information

www.searchenginewatch.com more info on search engine optimization

www.payperclicksearchengines.com pay per click search engine directory


Article Submission Directories

http://www.ezinearticles.com biggest / best online article directory.

http://www.goarticles.com 2 best online article directory.

http://www.articlealley.com


Affiliate Directories

www.clickbank.com largest, most popular affiliate directory online.

www.cj.com affiliate directory for larger online sites like eBay, Dell and Apple.

www.paydotcom.com Mike Filsaime’s affiliate directory / site

www.linkshare.com

www.affiliatesdirectory.com

www.associateprograms.com

www.affiliatescout.com

www.affiliatefirst.com


Blogging Software

www.wordpress.org installs on your server; my recommended best software for blogging.

www.wordpress.com hosted using WordPress.

www.typepad.com hosted on your own server.

www.blogger.com hosted by Blogger.


Auction Sites

www.ebay.com

www.pulse.ebay.com

www.ubid.com

www.bidz.com


Classified Sites

www.craigslist.org largest online site.

www.gumtree.com big in London

www.kijiji.com Canadian site.

www.buysell.com

www.classifieds.yahoo.com

With the help of others and my thread on the Warrior Forum the following is what I consider the top 5 creative, overlooked and underused ways to get people to your website. Some of them are fun, some are silly and others are just plain bananas. Take them for what they are:

1. Buy a pair of sandals; get your website engraved on the bottom and walk on the beach, stomp in the mud or play in the snow.

2. Go to baggage claim at a busy airport and put an empty piece of luggage on that has your URL on it. With luck, it will circle around and around as it won’t be claimed.

3. Find someone on eBay who is willing to tattoo your URL on a visible body part. For maximum impact, the forehead is the most highly desired location.

4. Print your URL on large pieces of sticky back paper and then stick it on the backs of busses and trucks, preferably at night.

5. And finally, go to the beach and as you’re walking along, drop stencils of your URL on unsuspecting sleeping sunbathers. Then they’ll get a nice tan of just your URL, and for the next week they’ll be walking billboards.

1. Email joint ventures This is the absolute best way because it is quick, and easy and can get you tons of target traffic which can make you a lot of extra money.

2. Article writing If you write ten articles and place them on ten websites with a link to your site, within a few weeks you’ll have thousands of inbound links to your site.

3. Search engine traffic Both free and paid search engines are a good way to get lots of traffic. It usually takes a little while to get free traffic from search engines, so if you’re just starting out, you might want to pay for it.

4. Online advertising This encompasses things like banner ads, ads in ezines, text ads, PPC ads and more.

5. Press releases Sending out a press release to the media is another great way to promote your site. Distribution methods are both free and paid.

The main advantage of ezines as advertising vehicles is that they are delivered to a very targeted group of readers. Usually, the quality of the subscribers will be higher in ezines that focus on single, very narrow topics such as crocheting or knitting. Ezine ads generally fall into one of three categories:

1 – Classified Ads

Classified ads are among the cheapest newsletter ads and are usually found at the bottom of newsletters. Sometimes free classified ads are given away as an incentive to subscribe to the newsletter or ezine. They are also the least effective due to their poor placement and limited copy. The best results with classified ads are obtained in the largest newsletters, since response rates are usually fairly poor.

2 – Sponsor Ads

These ads are priced higher than classified ads and are usually found at the top of the ezine or in the middle (within the content). They allow for more words and are more effective than classified ads, but are also usually more expensive. Sponsor ads are generally more effective than classified ads simply because their placement is better and they can contain more content. Some ezines only have one sponsor ad per issue and some have a handful depending on the publisher’s preferences.

3 – Solo Ads

Solo ads are by far the most effective ezine ad type. Solo ads fill up an entire email with only your advertisement. That means that the content is sent on your behalf to the subscribers. No other content is included, so you get the reader’s full attention and your ad gets the biggest exposure. Since a solo ad is usually seen as an endorsement from the ezine publisher, your message will enjoy a great deal of credibility. Solo ads are more expensive than sponsor ads, but are also many times more effective. Needless to say, reserve them for your products with the highest profit margins.

Another way to run solo ads is to partner in a joint venture. This way instead of paying a fixed fee to run your ad, you reach an agreement with the ezine publisher to split the profits 50/50 (or any other mutually agreed percentage split). The benefit of doing it this way is that you only pay for what you sell. If you don’t sell, you don’t pay; and if you sell well, you and the list owner both come away quite happy.

Before you spend money on ezine ads, it is a good idea to do some research: ask publishers what their typical click-through rate is and make sure their ezine is highly targeted to your primary target market. The conversion rate will depend on what’s on the website you send them to, but the more highly targeted your ad and the publication it’s in, the higher you can expect your conversion rate to be.

If you’re aiming towards a sponsorship ad, it’s also a good idea to check to see if the ezine publisher has a policy of never running ads for two similar products in the same issue. Your ad will be much more effective if it’s the only one of its kind in that particular issue. Also ask the publisher if they have ever had an ad placed in their publication for a similar product or service to the one you are offering. And find out what the success rate was like.

Since ezines are published on different schedules (some weekly, some monthly or bi-monthly) the impact of your exposure is affected. More people likely read a monthly newsletter more thoroughly than a weekly newsletter and will be more impacted and exposed to your ad. For solo ads, there is a proportional relationship between the time period in which different mailings are sent and the overall response rate to the ad.

Another way to advertise in ezines is to write an article and allow the publishers to use it for free with your resource box. That way you also gain credibility and build trust, and any leads you generate will be more qualified than those arising from an advertisement. Articles may also be placed on websites for back issues of the ezine and can have a shelf life of a few years or more.

With any type of ad, always be sure to track it with your own ad tracking software, so you can follow your visitors through to the sale. If you’re running ads in subsequent ezines, don’t forget to test a different variable in each issue. If you don’t have an ad tracker, http://www.1StartCart.com has a good one.

Ezine advertising is a great way to deliver highly targeted traffic to your website. If you pick the right ezines and the right type of ads, you will experience an above average click-through rate for the product you sell, and with a good sales page, an above average conversion rate as well.
Православни икони

If you’re going to be spending money to advertise, it only makes sense that the copy in your ads is better than good, it needs to be great. Let me share a secret with you: It doesn’t cost you any more to run an ad with great copy, than it does to run an ad with adequate copy. Not to mention the fact that you can multiply your results by 2, 5 or 10 times. Great copy attracts customers like a magnet.

Clients and prospects respond to tangible evidence that indicates the quality of your product or service. When you mail a brochure, hand out presentation materials or refer someone to your web site, your copy acts as a sales person delivering a message and influencing perceptions about your business, product or service.

The benefits you offer the consumer influence what the key messages in your copy are. The way you string your words together is often most effective when you clearly define the benefits you offer (as it relates to your target audience), and use motivators to elicit a response from your readers.

The 4 essential skills of writing good copy are:

1. Determine who your target audience is and speak directly to them
2. Create a Killer Headline
3. Convey your key messages to your audience
4. Paint a picture using power words that inspire action
5. Ask for the call to action (usually the sale)

Determining Your Target Market

Your target market is simply the people who are most likely to buy your products. Before you write any copy you must figure out who they are, so you can speak directly to them in a way in which they can understand and relate to.

You’ll likely define your target audience based on:

• Gender
• Age
• Income
• Marital status
• Level of education
• Hobbies
• What they read
• Where they shop
• What keeps them awake at night and so on.

Once you determine who exactly your target is, you must speak to them in a way that they understand. For example if your target audience is single men in their twenties or thirties who are computer programmers, you would want to use industry jargon that they will understand and are familiar with, then write in a way which they can relate to. Alternatively if your market is made up of retired couples, you would want to use that knowledge to convey your key messages.

Always direct your message to the right audience: those who want what you have to offer, will listen to your pitch and ultimately take action. The key is understanding your target audience like the back of your hand.

Create a Killer Headline

A powerful ad is one of the most important aspects of your success. The secret to a successful ad is your headline. You only have a split second to grab your targets attention. Your potential customer will most likely scan the ads and only read one if it catches their attention. Write your ads with passion, excitement, and benefits.

We all know the importance of a powerful headline. However, writing a great headline isn’t as easy as it sounds. An effective headline will literally force your potential customers to learn more. It will instantly ignite a certain emotion and intrigue them to read on. In order to write an effective headline, you must learn how to use specific words to achieve a specific reaction. This is definitely something that you’ll want to try, change test and track until you get desirable or better than desirable results.

Convey Key Messages to Your Audience

In order to write killer copy, you must have a crystal clear vision of what you offer is. What it is that makes you different from your competition? What’s in it for your customer? What benefits do they receive if they do business with you.

Features are nice, but if they don’t benefit the customer then they’re not really of much use. A feature is a characteristic of your product or service. A benefit is what that feature does for a customer. Benefits will outsell features ten to one. Some examples of features and the benefits they offer are listed in the chart below.

Feature vs. Benefit

Airbags >> Feeling of safety and security
Massage >> Stress relief and relaxation
Self Cleaning Oven >> Saves time, effort and is less hassle

Your job as a copywriter is to quickly explain what the features are, and how they would benefit the customer. This is your key message.

One feature can have lots of benefits, and one benefit can have lots of features to the same customer. One person may buy a mini-van because they need room to tote their kids; another person might buy the same mini-van because they like the comfortable ride and space. Someone else may buy a car that is very safe for their family, because it has a 5 star crash test rating, 6 air bags, and crumple zones. Remember, benefits are always in the eye of the beholder, which is why it is important to know who you are speaking to.

Before you start rattling off the benefits and features of your product or service, you should uncover the prospects wants, needs and interests. This way you can custom tailor the features and benefits as they relate to the prospect. The extra space for kids in a minivan is not of much use to a prospect with no kids. Talking about how your product or service may benefit the prospect also demonstrates that you care about what the prospect wants. Only bring up features that actually benefit your customer.

Some benefits are not necessarily obvious to your prospects. Remember, your prospects have a life outside of the conversation they’re having with you. Talking with them about benefits helps them see value in the way you want them to.

Many people learn to tell the feature first, and then describe the benefit second. It is often more effective to do it the other way around. This lawnmower is easy to use because it is self-propelled and mulches the grass so you do not need to dispose of the grass clippings.

Sometimes however, the benefit is best when it is implied, especially when you’re talking about benefits the customer’s image or ego. Many car ads do this and imply the benefit of enhanced ego or image. Coming out any saying, “Drive this car and your friends will think you make a lot of money” doesn’t work very well, but implying it does.

Sometimes companies talk about that are features that are not really features at all because they don’t really provide any inherent benefit to the customer. Having been in business for “X” number of years is not really a strong selling feature, nor is having “X” number of clients, or doing “X” dollars in sales last year. In fact, such features actually seem like you are boasting.

Though we can describe benefits in many different ways, they all fit into five main categories:

1. Convenience – saves time or effort
2. To saves or increase money/wealth
3. Provides peace of mind
4. Appeals to image or ego
5. Fun or enjoyment

Paint a Picture

This involves utilizing both the knowledge of who your target audience is, and the benefits that your product or service has to offer them. Describe how your offer can fit into their life and ultimately make it more enjoyable, make them more money and so on.

Using the minivan example from above, you can relate to the frustration of fitting a family of four or five in a car for a weekend camping trip. If the minivan you’re selling has safety features explain the benefits they offer, and why it might be safer then their current vehicle. If it comes with an optional DVD player and embedded headrest screens, paint the picture of their kids sitting in the back seat peacefully for a three hour trip watching their favourite movie. Any parent with young kids can easily relate to how nice it would be to be able to take a trip and not have kids fighting, and whining.

Ask For the Sale

This is perhaps the most important, and most overlooked part of writing sales copy. If you don’t ask for the sale, or ask for the call to action how can you expect to get it? A call to action might be filling out a survey, opting in for a mailing list, requesting more information or any number of other things. Just ask for it, it a way that will get results. Also create an urgency to act now.
This is something you’ll probably want to test, along with what the specific call to action is.

Above all, remember proper research is key and keep testing your copy against the results it produces. Do this and you’ll end up with a winner every time.

These telecom giants reason that since they provide the lines (copper, fiber optic or cable) that supply internet connections to consumers, they should profit from the data that flows through them. Here’s how it would work: Websites that pay a fee would be allocated the most bandwidth and thus load quickly, whereas websites that can’t afford to pay the toll, or simply won’t pay the toll, get whatever bandwidth is left over (i.e. the slow lane).

As internet marketers, it antes up the question: Would you pay? If you’re a larger company with deep pockets, and can afford to, you’d once again gain a competitive advantage over smaller online business owners that can’t afford to pay.

For the online consumer this means higher priced goods as website owners won’t silently bear the extra costs.

I just hope that a two-tiered internet never becomes reality, if it ever does, hundreds of thousands of at home online business owners will suddenly find themselves looking for a J.O.B.

Yahoo’s keyword search tool would allow anyone to type in a keyword or a keyword phrase and in a matter of seconds see exactly how many times that keyword or phrase was searched for in Yahoo / Alta Vista / Overture in the previous month. While it didn’t give net-wide results, you just needed to multiply the results by 4, since at the time it was last with us, Yahoo had a search market share of around 25%.

While clearly the source for market research for many online marketers, the results were always taken with a grain of salt. However, in my opinion there was no better alternative to quick niche market research and it will be dearly missed.

Where do you turn now? Here are some alternatives to Yahoo’s late keyword search tool:

https://adwords.google.com:443/select/KeywordToolExternal

http://www.goodkeywords.com

http://www.wordtracker.com

There’s many more out there, but finding a worthy replacement won’t be easy.

So you’d like to start making money on the Internet, but you don’t know an AdWords campaign from search engine optimization? Fear not, help has arrived.

Let me introduce you to Justin Michie’s new Internet marketing book “Street Smart Internet Marketing: Tips, Tools, Tactics & Techniques to Market Your Product, Service, Business or Ideas Online.”

Too many people seem to jump into starting an Internet business with their eyes closed and then wonder why they fail. In a study by thebusinessdevelopers.com, it was found that 9 out of 10 internet businesses will ultimately fail don’t let that happen to you. As with anything, you’ll experience much more success learning from the experience, trials and tribulations of others than trying to figure things out for yourself. This book is an excellent and very affordable way to do just that.

I must admit I was very impressed when I started reading this book. Unlike many other books in this field it does not promise the world overnight. It is very realistic in both the author’s expectations and implementation of his strategies. Not only is the book very informative and well written, but it is also well researched. Since it was just released and published in December of 06 all the information is fully up-to-date which is absolutely essential in this rapidly changing field.

I found that this book is user-friendly and comprehensive, pulling into one resource a multitude of successful, Internet marketing strategies, techniques and tips based on the success and experience of the author. Furthermore, the author has done an excellent job in presenting all the essential topics as related to creating and managing a successful Internet marketing presence with no stone left unturned.

Even if you’re an absolute Internet newbie, there’s no need to worry. Each topic begins with the basics spelled out in simple English and then progresses step by step to the more advanced marketing concepts – so even if you’ve been online for awhile you’ll still find a wealth of valuable information.

Street Smart Internet Marketing is a little longer than most business related books coming in at 307 pages but don’t let that deceive you – there is not an ounce of wasted space and boring it is not. It also includes an in-depth glossary containing hundreds of common “Internet marketing” related terms and a comprehensive index making it very easy to use as a reference tool. The rest of the book is divided into seven sections containing thirty-eight chapters. Some of the many topics you can expect to learn about include:

• Driving traffic to your website for little or no cost

• Building an opt-in email list

• Optimizing your website for search engines

• The secrets of information marketing

• Website design including sales optimization

• Effective email marketing

• Product development and positioning

• Joint venture marketing

• Affiliate marketing

And much more!

By the time you are done reading this book you can expect to be an expert in all of these areas and more. There is literally so much information that you’ll want to take notes or grab a highlighter so you don’t forget any important concepts or strategies.

If you currently have an offline business (or even if you don’t) and want to get online this is the perfect place to start. I would have paid a lot of money to have had access to this information a few years ago when I was first getting started online. Maybe it is the experience of trying to figure things out for myself that allows me to see how valuable the information in this book really is.

Compared with other internet marketing related books I’ve read, or even the much more expensive courses I’ve purchased, I found this to be an exceptional resource and I am constantly referring back to it for guidance and marketing ideas. There is literally nothing that I have seen that has this much practical real world content. This is a book that I strongly feel anyone with a website should have on their desk and priced at under $20, there’s no reason not to.

One of the many things I liked about this book is that it doesn’t just spit out buckets of information then leave the rest to you; it provides helpful knowledge and experience in a very actionable form which includes step by step instructions for things like writing proper response-oriented emails and creating a high quality information product.

Unlike many other books on similar subjects I have read, I found this book most practical – and closest to the need in the real business world, thus the origin of the title “Street Smart Internet Marketing. Justin’s techniques are sound, practical, user friendly and well tested. I highly recommend anyone who has any interest in online marketing immediately buy this book and devour every single word!

Also, did I mention that there is also a special membership site for readers of the book where they can find updated information, additional resources and freebies among other things. If you only buy one internet marketing book this year – make darn sure this is the one.

This book is available online at www.Amazon.com, or you can get it directly from the author’s website at www.InternetMarketingBook.com. By the time you finish reading it, your success on the Internet will be just around the corner!

Hopefully you’ve heard of joint venture marketing (JVM) and have at least a basic understanding of what it’s all about. In all honesty, joint ventures (JV’s) are what business is made of. They are one of the simplest and quickest ways to make a lot of money in a very short amount of time. Joint ventures work so well, that fortune 500 companies do them all the time – McDonalds does them, Wal-Mart does them (they do it together), and so should you.

JV partnerships can be one of the most rewarding and profitable methods used to influence your online business in a financially positive way. If you’re not utilizing this strategic weapon, chances are your competition is (or will soon be) using this to their competitive advantage, quite possibly against you. According to the Commonwealth Alliance Program, businesses estimated that in 2005, 25% of their total revenue (40 trillion dollars) was the result of joint ventures.

A joint venture is defined as a cooperative arrangement or partnership that will mutually benefit two or more companies or individuals that have complimentary products and/or services.

Let me give you an example of a simple JV:

Company X sells home study computer courses on various topics including: word processing, email, the internet etc. Company Y sells computers online at an average of about 100 per week. Company X thinks that Company Y would be a good JV partner, so they call them up and agree to form a mutually beneficial partnership. Company Y is going to let company X send a sales letter to all of their previous customers from the last four years (100 per week x 52 weeks per year x 4 years à 20,800 customers) in return for 50% of the net sales. Company X sends out a well-written sales letter and receives an industry average response rate of 2%. Since their average sale is approx. $50 their total sales are ($50 x 20,800 x 2%), or $20,800, which they split 50/50 with company Y.

$10,400 is a lot of money, especially for only a few hours work sending out a simple sales letter to someone else’s email list… but what if we could somehow increase the response rate? What if we could double it? Then double it again? Is an 8% response, or better, unheard of? Absolutely not! That’s what endorsed JVM is all about. You know at the start of this article where I said that JV’s are one of the easiest and most successful ways to make money in business? Well… I didn’t tell you the complete truth! Endorsed joint ventures are without a doubt, are one of the best ways to make a lot of money quickly and easily in any business.

There are many different types of joint ventures, but we’re going to concentrate primarily on electronic or online joint ventures.

An endorsed JV is when the company or individual that you are partnering with endorses or recommends your products or service to the customers on their mailing list. This is one of the only ways that you can successfully go directly from a prospect to a customer. One of the reasons that this can be so successful is that your partner already has an established relationship with everyone on their list. They have an established rapport with their customer base who values their opinion.

Let me show you an example of why endorsements work so well:

My wife’s grandmother was in town (she lives in Bermuda) and had lunch with my wife at a local restaurant. When they returned, I asked them how their lunch was. Her grandmother said that her meal was “heaven,” and that she’d just eaten some of the best ribs of her life. I love ribs, so the next time we went out for dinner, guess where we went? And guess what I ordered?

Now, if I received a flyer in the mail from Rob’s Rib House advertising “Best Ribs You’ll Ever Eat?” would I eat there? Maybe, maybe not.

You see the difference is, I know my grandma-in-law, we have an established relationship. I know that she is a very classy lady who has traveled the world many times over, and that she really appreciates good food. If she says something is “heaven” I know it’s going to be excellent; and there’s an excellent chance next time I have an opportunity to try it, I will.

When you receive a flyer in the mail from a restaurant advertising that they have the best ribs in town, why should you believe them? Isn’t it possible that their opinion may be a little biased? And exactly whose opinion is it anyways?

Still on the topic of ribs, if you read an article written by a renowned restaurant critic, who rated the ribs at Rob’s Rib House, number two in the entire country? If you enjoyed ribs as much as I do, might you possibly go a little out of your way to try them? Of course you would.

That’s the power of using an endorsement in your marketing. Many large companies have paid celebrities millions to appear in their commercials and ads. Most people know Michael Jordan isn’t going to put his name to a product that is crap, and risk harming his reputation; even if he is getting paid to do it. Just the fact that Michael Jordan supports something instantly communicates that the product is quality, and endorses (or gives credibility) to the ad.

Let’s take a look at an example of an endorsed joint venture versus cold mailing:

Let’s suppose that you are selling a $97 home study course on how to write a book and get it published. Since you don’t have a mailing list of your own, you set up a JV with someone in a similar but non-competing business who has a 10,000 person list. If your mailing goes well, and you get an industry average 2% response rate, your total sales would be $19,400 (10,000 x 2% x $97). Why is your response rate only 2%? Because people don’t know anything about you, your business or your product. You’re a stranger. You haven’t established a relationship with them, and they have no reason to believe what you have to say is true- why should they? Not to mention that they are afraid of being ripped off.

Now, what if you got the owner of the mailing list (who communicates regularly with his clients, and thus has established a relationship with them) to write an endorsement on top of your sales letter? They could let their customers know how great they believe your offer to be, how valuable your product or service is, and how it has positively affected their life. If you took the exact same product, mailing list and sales letter, and did everything else the same, except that now you have the owner of the list endorsing you, do you think that you might be a little more successful?

If your JV partner had most of the key factors in place such as a good relationship with a high quality list, instead of a 2% response rate, you might achieve a success rate of 10% or more. Let’s do the math, that’s (10,000 x 10% x $97) = $97,000. That’s incredible! One short letter made you five times more money than even the most well written and powerful sales letter ever could. That my friends, is the power of endorsed joint venture marketing.

Perhaps the best part about JVM is that it creates a “win win win” situation. Your partner wins because they make money with little or no effort, you win because you get a lot more sales than you could get on your own, with little, or no advertising cost, and the customer wins because they get affordable access to a product or service that benefits them.

1. The benefits of forming a JV partnership really are limitless. Here are 10 of the more potent benefits you might expect:
2. You can increase your credibility by teaming up and getting endorsements from other reputable businesses or experts.
3. You can very cost effectively gain new leads, customers and/or newsletter subscribers.
4. JV’s save time and money on marketing and advertising costs.
5. You can easily and conveniently increase your sales and profits.
6. You can offer your customers new products and services.
7. You can target other potential markets, and/or find hidden income streams.
8. You can expand and grow your business quickly.
9. You can spread/reduce risk.
10. You can develop new technology (ie. software).
11. You can increase product distribution.

There are risks involved with joint ventures, but they pale in comparison with the risk associated if you partook in the same activities alone; and the potential rewards far outweigh the risk. Some of the risk you would expect to shoulder may include any number of the following:

• Wasting your time
• Losing money
• Accomplishing nothing
• Reducing your credibility

As always it is important to completely evaluate the risks involved and do your homework before and during the process.

JVM is also a good way to get started in building your email database. But it proposes a little difficulty, which needs to be overcome. If you are relatively unknown, how do you get someone to agree to let you send out an email to their database?

You do everything you can to make it as easy as possible for them, and make the offer as attractive as you can. Give them a large percentage of the sales that you do with their list. Heck, even if you give them 100% of the sales or profits you make it can still be well worth it in the long run for you on the back-end.

Above all, joint ventures are great for everybody. Everybody wins and there are no losers. JV’s are one of the fastest ways to grow your business and is something that you should look into implementing immediately, if you haven’t already. Always keep a lookout for qualified JV partners.

(First Ever AT&T Banner)

A banner ad is a graphical promotion used on websites as a form of advertisement. Banner ads can come in any size you want, however the accepted standard is 468 pixels wide by 60 pixels high. Due to the widespread acceptance of this size, the same banner ad can be used on most websites without having to reconfigure the size and layout. Although banner ads can be used to advertise your phone number, address, or anything else you like, the real purpose behind banner ads is to get someone to click on it and jump to your website.

There is a great deal of controversy about the effectiveness of banners. Some people swear by them, others swear at them, saying they don’t work worth a darn. Although click-through rates have gone consistently downward, the same can be said of banner ad prices. The average click-through rate hovers somewhere around 0.5% range for banner ads. But, with a good banner design and placement it is still possible to achieve a good return on investment, by combining below-average ad rates and above-average response rates.

Banner ads are sold in any one of three ways: cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM), pay per click (PPC), or pay per action (PPA).

Buying a PPC banner is usually more expensive than the CPM basis, but can be much more effective because people actually take some kind of action by clicking though to your site. One of the drawbacks to PPC banner advertising is that one person may click on an ad more than once and you get charged for each click. However some ad providers track IP address, and only charge one click per computer per day. Most places though don’t do this for the simple reason that it means less money in their pocket.

The effectiveness of cost per impression banners can vary quite a bit, depending upon their placement on the webpage and you typically (not always) pay the same whether the banner is displayed prominently at the top of the page, or hidden in a bottom corner. Most CPM banner sites rotate the banners throughout the site (Run of Site – ROS) and throughout the page. Banner ads to reach general audiences are typically priced at $1 to $10 CPM, while targeted sites may get CPM rates of $30 – $50 or more. Even though it may not seem like much, banner ads can be quite expensive. Do the math with me:

If you’re paying $10 CPM and the click-through rate is an average of 0.5%, then it costs you $10 to get 5 people to your site, or $2 per person. If 2% of the visitors to your site make a purchase, then your customer acquisition cost (CAC) is $100, ($2 / 2%). That means for every transaction you do you need to pay out $100 in advertising fees. Some websites don’t even manage to turn 2% of visitors into customers, especially when they originate from a banner ad.

In order for banner ads to be effective, you need to combine above average click-through rates, with below average banner prices and sell either a high-ticket product, a product with a high markup (like an info product) or have a strong back-end in place so you make money on the second, third, fourth and even twentieth sale.

Pay per action banners are usually the most expensive, since you pay only for a desired action. This can be a product sale, having someone sign up for an email list or any other action you want. PPA banners can be very similar to an affiliate program and use the same type of tracking.

Banner Exchanges

Just like link swapping, some companies have banner swapping programs. Most banner swapping programs are free and some might require you to pay a monthly administration fee so they can cover their costs.

Many of the free companies make money by the in-proportionate ratio of banners you display on your site, vs. your banners being displayed on other sites. Let’s say you need to place a certain banner on your site for a total 10,000 impressions, but you only get 8,000 impressions of your banner on someone else’s site in return. This is how these sites fund themselves. They sell the extra 2,000 impressions you lose, for a profit.

Some banner exchanges are pure and simple; I’ll put your banner on my site, if you put mine on yours. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this if both sites are of a similar interest and get comparatively the same amount of traffic.

Some sites will track your stats and some will allow you to upload multiple banners so they can be rotated throughout the sites where are placed. This way you can determine what works best if you’re paying per impression. It’s also always a good idea to use your own ad tracker so you can follow the click-throughs to your site and see how many actually lead to a sale.

Some banner exchange companies will actually design the banner for you as part of their program. Although I suggest you design, (or have designed) your own banners. If you are going to let the banner exchange company design it for you, make sure it is on target. Some of these companies use software that automatically creates your banner untouched by human hands and unseen by human eyes, until it gets to yours. As with any type of advertising, the design, wording and call to action of your banner is quite important.

Since the purpose of a banner is to stop, interrupt really, the surfer’s train of thought, clicking on a banner is an impulse decision. People need a reason to make an impulse decision so you need to give them one. The following are some tips to help generate the highest click-through rate possible:

• Have a call to action. Always say “click here” on your banner, or some variation thereof. I know this sounds overly simple, but it is often overlooked and can easily double your click-through rates.
• Add a button. Placing the words “click here” into an actual or obvious button on your banner improves response.
• There’s no room for subtlety in banners. Your banner should scream your message.
• Try posing questions: “Want to save 15% on your car insurance in 15 minutes?” Questions work better than statements, particularly when they’re used to tease your audience. Studies have shown that by changing a statement to a question you can raise your click-through rate by 16%.
• If appropriate use humor. Make sure it’s actually funny and get some others opinions first. Quite often something that might be funny to you, other people may not get.
• Use bright primary colors. Brighter colors attract visitor’s eyes. Blue, green, and yellow elicit the most click-throughs. Stay away from transparent colors either in the foreground or background – they tend to get lost among the colors of most websites so stick with solids.
• Use simple animation. Moving images and blinking animation attract visitors to your banner. Strategic use of movement grabs attention more effectively than static banners. Don’t make them too wild or complicated so the message gets lost, the senses are overloaded and/or the file size is too large.
• Offer a reward or free gift when someone clicks on your banner. It will help motivate people to click. Contests also work well, especially if you’re giving away money. Money is the biggest motivator.
• Run a series of banners. It may take more than one message to tell your story or to go after a particular market. Run a series of banners and vary your message. Keep you message consistent and catchy to make your visitors want to read further. After the fourth impression of the same banner, most people tend to subconsciously block it out in their mind.
• Keep the copy short. Think billboard advertising – the average person spends six seconds looking at a billboard and you have less than a third of that time on the web. Write compelling copy. Use action words that motivate.
• Use italics if you can. Although they don’t have a huge impact, they can increase click-through rates by a few percentage points when compared with standard typefaces.
• Create curiosity. A large number of those who click on ads do so because they are curious. Studies show that curious clickers very widely by demographic and other characteristics, so targeting based on curiosity can be very effective when you have a general interest product or service.
• Use wide banners or tall skyscraper banners. They’re clicked on significantly more than smaller, skinnier, or square banners.
• Make your banner file size is small, so it loads quickly; 10-30kb is typical for a 468 by 60 pixel banner.

Some Tips on Implementing Banner Ad Campaigns

1. First, determine if you think it would be worth it to participate in a banner ad campaign. Consider the banner costs, compared to an average click-through rate of half a percent, your sites’ conversion rate, profit margins and customer’s LOV (lifetime of value).
2. Determine where and on what sites you want to consider placing your banner ads, taking into consideration the cost, banner placement, payment types (PPC, CPM, PPA) and if it’s a targeted site or not. Find some websites that complement yours.
3. Contact the site on which you wish to place your ad and ask if they have a rate card and get info on their payment options. You can also see if they offer any specials or discounts if you purchase in bulk, or even simply ask for a better deal. A lot of the time they will give you one simply because you asked.
4. Read the submission guidelines. This usually covers things like:
   • Maximum file size
   • File types accepted (commonly .gif, .jpg and flash – .swf)
   • Accepted banner sizes
   • Deadlines for submission and review
   • How many banners can you submit for rotating campaigns?
   • How often do they rotate the banners?
   • How do they determine where your banner is placed on each page?
   • Do you pay for placement or is it random?
5. Keep track of all your banner statistics. Even though the company you are advertising with may do this for you, it’s also a good idea to track it yourself. This way you can track and determine results like your conversion rate, ROI, CPC (cost per click) and click-through rate for each banner.

All in all, banner advertising can be a key part of your online marketing campaign. Depending on all of the key factors mentioned above, it may or may not be a financially feasible part of your marketing campaign, if it can make you a profit. If it can’t, don’t sweat it, there’s tons of other ways to cost effectively market your business online.

The easiest way to passively get more traffic is to plaster your website on everything you have including but not limited to:

• Business cards
• Letterhead
• Envelopes
• Business receipts
• Invoices
• Sales letters
• Company brochures
• Flyers
• Fax coversheets
• Pens
• Pencils
• Mouse pads
• A yellow pages ad/listing
• On your voice mail message
• Ads in newspapers and magazines
• Bumper stickers
• And anything else you can think of

Some other oldies but goodies include:

Classified Ads both in well-circulated newspapers, magazines and other sources can be an easy and cheap way to drive traffic to your site. There are still people who read their daily newspaper at home in their easy chairs every night. Advertising in newspapers can reach those customers. They are also a great way to test headlines.

Bulk mailers / flyers People check and read their mail everyday, and there are no spam laws connected to snail mail. You can use a local venue that’ll mail your ad along with 20-30 other ads to a localized neighborhood, like www.moneymailer.com. Target flyers can also work very well with the right targeted mailing list.

Trade Shows / Seminars These are where a whole bunch of business minded individuals all meet to share their businesses and socialize. They’re also a great to make contacts that can really boost your business and garnish mutually beneficial lifelong relationships.And of course there’s radio, TV, infomercials, billboards, full page newspaper/magazine ads, hot air balloons etc. but these are usually beyond the means and budget or most online marketers.

These are just a few ideas. Bottom line, promoting offline is as important as promoting online. Finding the balance is important in any business.

You can only do and learn so much. It often makes much more sense to hire a professional than to try and do it yourself. They can most often do a better job than you can and it also allows you to get much more done with the limited time you have. Instead of working in your business, outsource, and work on your business instead. If you don’t have competent professionals to work with, check out http://www.elance.com and find one.

9. Be Professional

Web surfers are naturally skeptical and everything you do can affect their decision to buy from you. Unless your business or website is a household name, you probably don’t have a ton of credibility in the eyes of your visitors. So you need to do everything you can to ensure that your site builds trust and strengthens your credibility. Something seemingly as small as a spelling error or a minor design flaw can have a huge impact in a visitor decision to do business with you. If you can’t get your site right, how can they expect your product or service is all you say it is? Will it have errors, problems or flaws as well? Whatever you do, get your own domain name, have a money back guarantee, do not use free anything, make sure you get your site professionally designed, be honest and most importantly check and recheck everything you do for spelling, grammatical and design or factual errors.

8. Don’t Spam

This can single handedly destroy your entire online business in a matter of days. Spamming isn’t just limited to sending out unsolicited bulk emails – search engines can be spammed as well. Repeating a list of keywords on your site for the purpose of obtaining a better ranking, using unrelated keywords (Britney Spears on a marketing site) for the purpose of getting more visitors to your site that are searching for something else or using some types of doorway pages are all considered search engine spamming. Search engines don’t like being spammed any more than the average email user, and have been known to permanently ban sites that spam. If you spam by email, you’ll get yourself blacklisted and none of your email will get through. If your email can’t get through, then you can’t get people back to your site to sell to them and you’ll go broke. Needless to say, never send email that isn’t opt-in, and a $29.95 CD with 30 Million so called opt-in email addresses on it doesn’t count.

7. Target Your Audience

If you don’t target your website, promotions and everything else you do online to the right market you’re only wasting your time. There’s no sense sending an email promotion to a business professional on a new knitting pattern. You need to figure out exactly who your target audience is: Where do they live? What do they do? How do they do it? How much do they make? What do they buy? Where do they buy it? The more specific you can be in targeting your audience, the more effective your promotions will be.

6. Use Autoresponders

One of the most convenient aspects of the internet marketing is the ability to automate a large portion of the processes. Autoresponders allow you to do just that. Sequential (or smart) autoresponders allow you to send pre-written, personalized follow-up emails to opt-in subscribers whenever you like. For example, suppose someone signed up for an email e-course on your site which had five lessons. A sequential autoresponder will automatically send out all five messages for you at whichever intervals you like, and even personalize the emails with the information the subscribers filled out when they signed up. If you want to email your entire list with an offer, no problem, just use the built in broadcast email function.

One of the most convenient aspects of the internet marketing is the ability to automate a large portion of the processes. Autoresponders allow you to do just that. Sequential (or smart) autoresponders allow you to send pre-written, personalized follow-up emails to opt-in subscribers whenever you like. For example, suppose someone signed up for an email e-course on your site which had five lessons. A sequential autoresponder will automatically send out all five messages for you at whichever intervals you like, and even personalize the emails with the information the subscribers filled out when they signed up. If you want to email your entire list with an offer, no problem, just use the built in broadcast email function.There are many things to look for when choosing an autoresponder, so take a little time to do some comparison shopping; it is imperative to your business that you make the right choice. Although there are many different services, the one I use and like is http://www.1StartCart.com.

5. Setup an Affiliate Program

If you have your own product or service, setting up an affiliate program is a great way to get more foot traffic to your site and thereby make more sales. You’ll need to decide if you want to pay commissions on only one lever (one-tier) or on two levels (two-tier) and also what kind of commission you’ll pay. Two-tiered programs are much more attractive to affiliate because they not only earn commissions on their sales, but also on the sales of those they sign up into your program. To run your affiliate program make sure to get an affiliate management tool. I prefer the one from http://www.1StartCart.com as it’s integrated with my shopping cart system.

If you have your own product or service, setting up an affiliate program is a great way to get more foot traffic to your site and thereby make more sales. You’ll need to decide if you want to pay commissions on only one lever (one-tier) or on two levels (two-tier) and also what kind of commission you’ll pay. Two-tiered programs are much more attractive to affiliate because they not only earn commissions on their sales, but also on the sales of those they sign up into your program. To run your affiliate program make sure to get an affiliate management tool. I prefer the one from http://www.1StartCart.com as it’s integrated with my shopping cart system.Commissions can be flat rate or percentage based and can be paid on signups, sales or opt-ins; although they’re almost exclusively only paid for sales of some kind. For most electronic products commissions are split 50/50 between the publisher and the affiliate, while physical products have commission rates anywhere from 5 – 45%. Affiliate programs allow you to use the advertising expertise of others and the best part is you don’t pay until you get paid.

4. Testing and Tracking

If you don’t test to find out what works and what doesn’t, how can you ever increase your conversion rate and ultimately your sales? You can’t test if you don’t track. The ability to not only track your visitors but what they do on your site is extremely important to the success of any website. Make sure you get a good web stat tracking service such as the one from http://www.webstat.com – you needed it yesterday.No matter what kind of promotion you do online it is absolutely essential that you test and track everything. If, for example, you have an email list of 25,000 people, before you email your entire list send five different test emails to a random sample of 1,000 people each. Be sure you only change one variable in each email (such as the subject, offer, the PS, lead, sales page etc.) and see which pulls the best results. You will often find that one email may out perform the others by two or three fold. That is the one you want to send to your entire list.

On your website test different headlines, offers, testimonials, benefit statements, prices, free bonuses, opt-in forms, guarantees, design and color test absolutely everything starting with the variables that will have the most significant impact, to those that will have the least impact.

3. Search Engine Optimization

Optimizing your site for search engines is especially important as it can have profound impact on the amount of traffic you get. Though, it won’t get you much traffic right away, once your site becomes more established, it can do wonders for your traffic; and it’s free. Simple things such as using the right keywords in your domain name, page title, headers, body and meta tags can significantly help increase your search engine rankings. Other important things to consider are the number and quality of backlinks to your site (link popularity) and the actual content of your site, and the quality of that content. Simply submit your site to the major search engines and within a few months you’ll start getting quality, free traffic if you play your cards right.

2. Generating Traffic

The ‘if you build it, they will come’ method doesn’t work so well on the internet. If you’ve got a website, chances are you want people to come to it for one reason or another; and to do that you’ll need to advertise in some way, shape or form.

On the net the top five ways to get people to your site are:

Email Joint Ventures This is the absolute best way because it is quick, and easy and can get you tons of target traffic which can make you a lot of extra money.

Article Writing If you write ten articles and place them on ten websites with a link to your site, within a few weeks you’ll have thousands of inbound links to your site.

Search Engine Traffic Both free and paid search engines are a good way to get lots of traffic. It usually takes a little while to get free traffic from search engines, so if you’re just starting out, you might want to pay for it.

Online Advertising This encompasses things like banner ads, ads in ezines, text ads, PPC ads and more.

Press Releases Sending out a press release to the media is another great way to promote your site. Distribution methods are both free and paid.
Many people forget that they can also advertise their site offline as well as online. This includes things like company letterhead, business cards, pens, vehicles, billboards, print ads, radio and TV, trade shows, direct mail or anything else you can think of. Go nuts – make sure your site is on every piece of printed material that comes out of your business.

1. Build a Quality Opt-in Email Database

Building a quality opt-in email database is perhaps one of the most important parts of online marketing. If you don’t collect the names and email address of your visitors, once they leave your site they’re probably never coming back. Most marketers know that it takes up to seven contacts on average to get customers to buy from you, and an email list allows you to do just that. That’s why it’s so important to get this information. It also allows you to build a quality and trusting relationship with your subscribers which makes them more ready when their time comes to do business with you.

Building a quality opt-in email database is perhaps one of the most important parts of online marketing. If you don’t collect the names and email address of your visitors, once they leave your site they’re probably never coming back. Most marketers know that it takes up to seven contacts on average to get customers to buy from you, and an email list allows you to do just that. That’s why it’s so important to get this information. It also allows you to build a quality and trusting relationship with your subscribers which makes them more ready when their time comes to do business with you.Place an opt-in signup form prominently on your site and give visitors a reason to subscribe. Often a newsletter or ezine subscription is not enough, so offer a free bonus that has a high perceived value in the eyes of your visitors. This could be a free ebook, audio or video download, a special report, an email course or anything else of value. Then keep in touch with your subscribers on a regular basis and send them periodic offers for your products or services, or those of an affiliate program and you’ll have the makings of a beautiful relationship.