Written by Alex Richards

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.

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Sometimes when you don’t have a list of your own yet, or want to grow your list, renting a permission based opt-in list may be a viable alternative to send an email to. A permission based opt-in rental list is a list of prospects or a targeted group of subscribers who have opted-in to receive information about certain subjects.

Under no circumstances should you ever purchase a CD of millions of email addresses. These emails have been harvested from the internet and if you contact anyone on these lists, you will be spamming them. Also avoid opt-out lists where recipients are placed on a list involuntarily and then invited to unsubscribe if they want to.

It’s important to note that the lists are always rented, never bought. The list owner is the only person who ever sees the actual list. You rent the one-time use of the list, send your promotion to the list owner, who in turn sends it out to the list.

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One of the first steps in creating a marketing plan is developing a USP, or Unique Selling Proposition (sometimes called a Unique Selling Point or a positioning statement). A USP is an ultimate statement of benefit, or the single most compelling reason why a customer should buy from you over your competition.

In a short, meaningful, specific sentence, a USP describes your primary distinguishing feature to your target market and lets them know what’s in it for them if they do business with you. According to Rosser Reeves, the author of “Reality in Advertising” who coined the USP, the three requirements for a USP are:

1. Each advertisement must make a proposition to the customer: “buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit.”

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If you are a business owner who wants to significantly increase your market reach, break down entry barriers to a new market, or simply generate skyrocketing profits in a short amount of time then a joint venture may well be in your future.

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.

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The Blog is taking the online world by storm, and is quickly becoming an internet fad, as more and more people start the own blog everyday on free sites like blogger.com.A blog is simply an online diary or journal where people communicate their personal thoughts, along with web links, and/or other interesting information on an ongoing basis.

A blog is essentially a mixture of what is happening in the blogger’s life, and what is happening on the web. There are really no set rules as to what defines a blog, but it is generally accepted to be some kind of personal thoughts combined with any other number of elements. Blogs are sometimes refereed to as “web logs,” however this can cause some confusion as “web log” can also refer to a web server’s log files.

Blogs are forums for voicing opinions and developing communities with common interests. It is human nature to communicate. Each new form of communication and revolutionized the way the world interacts. Right from the day of when the telegraph was invented to the day when internet was made public, the way people communicated has gone through a sea of change.

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Banner ads are the pioneers of internet marketing. The first banner ad appeared on www.hotwired.com (now www.wired.com) back in October 27th, 1994 in the form of an ad for AT&T. Since that time banner ads have taken over the internet in a variety of forms.

(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.

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We sometimes forget that before the Internet came along, a lot of very smart marketers perfected creative ways to get their message out to the general population. These techniques are tried and proven, and shouldn’t be forgotten, just because many people have moved to primarily marketing 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

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The longer a visitor customer stays at your site, the more time you have to convince them to buy your product or service. There are many things you can do to help your customers take off their coats and stay a while. Here are some ideas:

1. Make sure your page loads fast. If it has so many graphics that it takes forever to load, people get bored, and will leave before they start.
2. Be clear from the beginning. Make sure that the very first words that people see are describing what your website is all about. Do not mislead them to try and get them to stay it’s a bad idea.
3. Proofread for spelling and grammar. Grammar and spelling errors scream amateur – if you want people to take your site seriously, make sure there are no mistakes.

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You’ve worked hard to be at the top of your game. Your website has loads of useful information and content. It is graphically pleasing. It is aesthetic and professional. It is nearly perfect. But how can you add that last bit of spice, that little morsel of technology that tells potential customers you are at the top of your market, and you’ve got nowhere to go but up?

Let me tell you a little about adding video to your website, and how it can turn an almost perfect marketing site into the perfect combination of auditory and visual stimulus. It can blast your product endorsement so well that it will have visitors lining up to purchase it.

A video presentation of your product can provide things that other forms of media can’t. Ever try to include body language in text-only content, or convey it through still images? Ever wrack your brain trying to figure out how to describe and explain every little detail without writing a boring and confusing novel?

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Search Engines are the foundation of the internet information highway, and most website owners are at least somewhat interested to know how they can get their site to appear in search engine listings without too much technical complication. But they don’t only want their site to appear, they want it to appear on the first page of listings for their relevant topic. Here are some simple tips on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) which can get you started in the right direction:

1. Meta tags and titles: Meta tags have been one of the oldest methods of SEO, and it’s quite simple to do. As a web site owner, you can ask your web designer to insert relevant keyword and description meta tags on each of your webpages, or even do them yourself with the help of an HTML editor, or online meta tag generator. Relevant keyword rich page titles should also be used.

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