0 2 Marketing Strategies to Make Money Online with Affiliate Programs!

Thefirst strategy to make money online is building a list.

This strategy is the most important step to continue tomake money long term. If you do not already have some type of autorepondersystem you need to get one. Don't be cheap here either because your entirebusiness will hinge on this one piece of software.

You can build your list many different ways. You can buyleads from reputable list building companies and get them into yourautoresponder. Most good list building companies will have an option to send anemail to your autoresponder so you don't have to manually input the lead'sinformation.

Another effective way of building your list is from thetraffic that visits your website. This step, which is probably the most effective,does require you to have a website in order to implement an opt-in list form. Of course if your Affiliate program does offer a list management service thenyou can send traffic to the affiliate URL, but I don't recommend it as you willusually not be able to email the entire list with special offers

To make the most of your opt-in form and get the mostsignups, you should place it in your sales page text. It should bestrategically located in the sales text after you present a problem. The titleof your autoresponder email series should address the problem by offering asolution. In the example below we will assume that I am selling a hostingpackage and I want opt-in subscribers to my email course for back-end sales.

Example: You can use the pre-built websites or build yourown. Many people think that building a website is hard, but I can show you howeasy it really is. Take my 10 day email course "Build a Website with Ease"[signup form here].


Thesecond strategy to make money online is driving traffic to your website.

When I say traffic, I don't just mean any old traffic, Imean targeted traffic, people who are motivated and ready to buy can and willmake you money. You can use programs and techniques such as Google Adwords,bloging, article writing and linking to drive targeted traffic to your website. GoogleAdwords is a resource offered by Google in which you can payfor your site to be show when certain keywords are queried in their searchengine.

The secret to using Adwords is not to bid high on popular keywords. Instead,what you do is find similar keywords that still describe your website, but are usedmuch less frequent. These keywords will cost much less to bid on and will allowyou to spread your money out over many different keywords, getting the most bangfor your buck. You can use this handy little tool to find similar keywords:http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/

Bloging is another greatway to drive targeted traffic to your website. To get the most out of this techniquethe blog should be hosted on the same website as the sales page witch links toyour affiliate program. Once its setup all you have to do is fill your blogwith good quality content.

I recommend writing your own content which specificallyrelates to your affiliate program and or products. Once you have some contentyou will need to submit your RSS feed to the as many blog search engines as youcan. This will put your blog out there for other webmasters to use as content feeds on their websites.

This win-win situation allows webmasters to have qualitycontent on their website, which increases the value of that website whiledriving targeted traffic directly to you.

This is done by the URL link that youconveniently placed under your name after the blog was written. That means that your link is on a blog feed that is onthousands of websites. Not only do people click those links but Google seesthese links pointing back to you and thinks that you're popular and you arerewarded with a higher page rank.

Articlewriting is basically the same as bloging except theinformation in an article will need to have more useful content and be pepperedwith keywords that the webmasters are looking for. After completing yourarticle you will submit (syndicate) it to content sites as opposed to blogsearch engines.

Content sites are places where webmasters go to findspecific content to offer their readers. If you are a good writer you may atsome point build up a name for yourself and finagle a deal with a webmaster towrite exclusives for his site. His readers get great exclusive content and youget highly motivated targeted traffic.

Linking is perhaps themost widely used form of increasing traffic and page rank. However, if doneincorrectly you could end up hurting your Google page rank and ultimatelyloosing potential buyers. You will need your own website for this technique asyou will need a 'links' page to place your reciprocal links on.

Many people go and submit their URL links to link farms inan attempt to trick Google into giving them a better page rank. This does NOTwork; in fact Google has been known to penalize websites for engaging in theseactivities.

The secret to linking is to find websites in your nichemarket which have a Google page rank of 4 or above and enticing the webmasterto list your link on their website. You may think that you would be helpingyour competition, well you would be. But your competition would be helping youas well. It's better to send leaving traffic to a partner than just having themclose their browser window, and remember that works both ways.

The strategies listed in this article do work and they willincrease you sales and residuals it done correctly. Reciprocal linking, Blogingand Article writing are great ways to bring massive amounts of high qualitytargeted traffic to your website. Those strategies combined with an effectivesales page with an integrated opt-in email list can make your business soar tonew heights. You can and will make money with this system, Guaranteed!

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0 Search Engine Marketing Products Reviewed

Most books and software ever sold online have-in one form or another-something to do with Search Engine Optimization. Why is this such a sought after service? Because... getting a good spot on major search engines can be the difference between $0 in profit per day versus $500 to $150,000 in profits per day (depending on the product you are promoting). Now there are many books and programs out there... and trust me, I've tried nearly all of them. Here are my personal recommendations:

#1 - The SEO Elite Software is by far the best of the best in software out there. It is a bit pricey to start off with, but it will literally save you thousands of dollars in promotions. The advantage you have is that you can create instant back-links to your site whenever you choose to, and on more sites then you could ever dream of. To have access to tools with a 1/4 of these abilities you would pay about $239 a year somewhere else. In short... you get more than you pay for. I'd rate it 10/10

#2 - Search Engine Optimization is another great, great tool. The price is a fraction of what you would pay on the previous software, but you are also more limited as to what you can or cannot do with this system. Still a super program, but remember: You Get What You Pay For.

#3 - Links Master is a program different from the previous two in the sense that you get someone else to blast your text ads out onto hundreds of sites. Problem? You have limited control over the kind of sites and the amount of sites linking to your site. Again... a great service, but it does tend to go hard on the wallet of those starting out.

Believe it or not-there is no secret to getting your site listed #1 on major search engines. You read that right! Search Engine Marketing is always spoken of as though it is hard to do. And gaining a #1 spot on Google, well, that is just plain impossible. If done right, YOU can prove all those assumptions wrong.

Using software #1 it is easy and fast as lightning to get top ranking on major search engines and, as previously stated, it takes very little effort on your part. Go to the site, read the testimonials-and if you are serious about getting that #1 spot... I trust you will purchase the software. The SEO software is to the online marketer today as a machine gun would have been to a warrior in medieval times: It literally blows all Search Engine Marketing competitors to pieces!

Search engines can be an effective method of driving highly targeted visitors to a web site. Our search engine marketing page provides access to the collective wisdom of all the top search engine marketing experts with regularly updated articles, links to resources, and announcements of new tools and services available to the search engine marketing industry.

Do you want your site to rank #1 on Google?

Then use the #1 Search Engine Marketing tool, which is currently being used by thousands of search engine marketers around the world. Gain YOUR #1 spot on Google, Yahoo, and MSN in record time!

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0 The "Expert" Dilemma - When Everyone Wants Your Time

Let's imagine that you have spent years building up your expertise in a certain niche - say, puppy training. You have written articles, created courses, published e-books (or real books), filmed training videos and hosted web seminars. Suddenly, your name is out there. Your promotional activities have born fruit, and you are now the 'go-to guy' on puppy training.

For a while, it's great. Your products sell like hot cakes, and your e-courses are always full. Grateful clients send you emails telling you how fantastic your information is - and of course, you use their words in testimonials. That generates even more sales.

Then one day you sit down at the computer to start on your email - and you realize that it's out of control. Increasingly, you are getting mail from puppy-owners assuming you will be happy to dispense free advice. (After all, you are the guru.) People who have done your courses tend to stay in contact, too. Sometimes they just to report success, sometimes they ask for further advice. ("I know you're a busy person, but I wonder if I can just ask a quick question?")

At times, you open your email program and find that you have twenty or thirty emails to answer. You're spending hours every day just being polite to people or answering more questions.

What are you going to do?

Obviously, you can't keep this up. Yet you know that these are nice people - their motives are innocent, and you don't want to offend them. They obviously have no idea how much time you spend on unpaid support - or how the time spent on all those 'quick questions' can add up.

Here are a few strategies that can help you take control of your time again.


1. Outsource Technical Support.

This is the first thing you should do if your expertise has started producing a good income. Your time is precious: use it to create new products or to enjoy well-earned leisure time - not to give technical support. Create an email forwarder (or a new pop mailbox) on your website, which will forward all support issues to the person you hire. Make sure this 'support' address is included on the 'thank you' email that goes to all customers who buy downloadable videos, e-books or software.


2. Create a FAQ Page on Your Website.

You will find that the same problems or questions come up again and again. Each time you get a different question, add it - and your answer - to the FAQ page on your website. Suggest that clients check this page first to see if the answer to their question is there.

3. Create Website Forms for Support or Contact

Your email will decrease if you ask clients to fill in a contact form on your website rather than emailing you directly. Put a polite note on your website explaining to people that because of the volume of mail, it has been necessary to use a website form. Here, you can direct people to consult the FAQ page before they fill in the form, or to Tech Support, if this is the issue.


4. Create Quick Explanations Using the Signature File

Your email program should allow you to create new signature files. (In Outlook Express, this is under Options/Signature Files.) If your business is not yet large enough to outsource support, use the signature file to create quick answers to common questions. (For example: a common question is "I've downloaded your e-book but it won't open in Acrobat. I get a message saying that the file has been corrupted. What do I do?" Mostly, this problem arises because the customer is using an outdated version of Acrobat Reader. So, you create a new signature and call it "Acrobat Reader". Type out a few lines that say something like "Most problems in opening PDF files are solved when you download the latest version of Acrobat. You can download it here.... If this doesn't solve your problem, please contact me again."

Create similar signatures for any common question. One of the first that you should create is a friendly paragraph explaining that your email volume is so high that you can no longer spare the time to address problems personally. Suggest that the FAQ page is a good source of information... and perhaps provide a different email address for URGENT concerns that are not covered on the FAQ page. Most people will respect your time once they understand that you get large volumes of email and simply don't have the time to answer individuals.

You'll find that a collection of signature files that address common questions will save you a great deal of time - you can respond with a few clicks of the mouse, rather than typing it all out again.

Bottom line: If you don't recognize the value of your own time, nobody else will - so take action NOW to regain control.

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0 How to Sell your Timeshare?

The first question is, should you really sell in the first place? We find many potential sellers who want to sell for the wrong reasons. They can't get the reservations they want, are unsuccessful trading their time through the exchange companies, can't get the property rented or similar such problems. This tells us they probably don't understand just how to get the most out of their timeshare. Timesharing is an interactive sport. The more you learn about how to use it and the more attention you pay to making reservations at the right time, banking your time, etc. the more you will get back. If this is the problem it might be better to spend some time with the resort staff to find out how to make it work than to give up and sell it. In numerous cases we have given tips to our customers on how to achieve results and had them come back later and express their happiness that they didn't sell. On the other hand, there are some legitimate reasons for selling. If this is the case then this information will help you.

Suppose you lived in a 100 unit condo property all of which were absolutely identical. Let's also say that the current market values were $150,000. If you said, "I will sell, but I want $250,000", what do you think would happen? Right!! You would sit and wait and wonder why your condo didn't move. Furthermore, it wouldn't move until you adjusted the price to the current market level. Resale timeshare buyers are not dumb. They know they can steal these units on the secondary market and there is no way they are going to pay more than that. If your price is too high you simply will not sell it.

Another complaint we hear when we quote current market values is "I can't take that kind of loss. I paid a lot more than that for it." One time a banker said that to me. He said, "The bank has a lot more than that in it and can't take that kind of loss." I told him that the bank had already taken that kind of loss, the only question was when he was going to recognize it. It sounds brutal to say, "I don't care what you paid for it", but that is what the buyers do say. Resales do not sell for the original developer price. Does that mean you paid too much to begin with? Probably not. There are not a lot of developers who have become rich in timesharing. Many have even left the field. Chances are what you paid originally just covered the developer's cost, and the marketing (50% of the price). Remember all those "free gifts"? Guess what? They weren't really free.

Why this low pricing? Until recently, there wasn't a good marketing system for resales. What would stocks be worth if there were no New York Stock Exchange? Same problem. In the long haul, we believe resale prices should rise as the current levels present incredible values to the buyer. How long will it take? Who knows? In the meantime, your resale had better be priced right or it simply won't move.

How do we price it right? The same as with condos, you need to determine the comparative market values (comps). For what price has similar timesharing property been selling (closing)? The best source for this information is your licensed resale broker. The next best source is title companies. As time goes by, this information will become easier to come by. Your property manager might have some ideas as to values. If you follow Timesharing Today over time, you could call some previous sellers whose ads no longer appear and find out if and for how much they sold. That brings us to Rule 1: Your resale timeshare must be priced right (at the going market price).

The general lack of liquidity in the resale business has given rise to a new cottage industry known as the "Timeshare Resale Scam". In this scenario, you as a potential seller get a call saying, "We can sell your week if you will just send us $350, $500, $2,000" (your choice). If it will make you feel any better, I got hooked on this years ago myself. I sent them $350 and they put an ad in the local shopping news (on the other side of the country) at a cost of $9. The results were just as you might suspect: nothing.

Some of the frauds such as the recent Oscar Bradley scam (see Timesharing Today issue #30, Nov/Dec, 1996) were very elaborate. In that one, they would say they had the $4,000 value timeshare sold "to an offshore buyer" for $16,000. To guarantee the sale closing within a year you could buy an insurance policy with the British Guarantee Company for $2,000 to $4,000 (whatever they could get). They invited you to check them out by calling "The Timeshare Advisory Council" at an 800 number they would give you. Of course, that was Bernie down at the other end of their boiler room. Sadly, they fleeced a number of timeshare owners before they were driven out of the country. Lately we understand they are continuing the same scam by phoning from England where they are supposedly beyond the reach of the FBI. Their former leader is now in prison.

One of the latest variations of this scam is the "need" for a resale appraisal. They claim that this is necessary because their "lenders" require it. These frauds tend to originate in Florida where there is now a law against front fees for resales. The appraisals are priced at $300 up (Ridiculous). Some of these "Resale Brokers" will give you a list of several appraisers who are acceptable. Some are even offered by respectable national franchisees. Question: Why would their "lenders" need an appraisal before the buyer has even asked for a loan (Most don't)? The bottom line is that you will be relieved of your money without the production of any acceptable results.

The old saying of "Why buy the cow if the milk is free?" certainly applies here. Why would you pay a listing or "appraisal" ("advance "or "front") fee when it is unnecessary? Would you pay a broker to list your condo? Of course not. Just shop around until you find a broker who will work on a straight commission. Once you have sent a front fee the incentive to produce drops dramatically (to zero). It is not uncommon for you to be told not to call again to check on your "listing". Not to say all advance fee deals are frauds, just most of them. If you say no to all, you will be right most of the time. And that brings to Rule 2: Don't pay any kind of fee to list your timeshare for sale. This is particularly true if the agent is in a different state from the property or says, "We are an advertising agency, not a broker". Listing a timeshare normally requires a Real Estate License in the state in which the property is located. If they don't have one, beware!

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0 Yes You Can! How to Write a Report or E-course

In my article about offering bonuses, I suggested writing your own report as one possible bonus. You could also write a report or ecourse as a stand-alone product. You may find the very thought of writing these intimidating, so I'll help you get started.

I'm assuming you are working with a website or product in a well-defined niche area, one in which you are at least somewhat knowledgeable. I'll also assume you have been writing web copy, articles and/or sales letters. You've already generated lots of information.

Whatever you are planning to write always starts with what you know, and the easiest way to get started with that blank page is to make a list. So make a list of what you already know about your topic. Do this quickly; it should be easy because you can just write down the titles of articles you've already written

I'll talk about writing a report, but the only difference between that and an e-course is that an e-course is a step-by-step process. If your information lends itself to that format, then use it instead of the report, which simply provides information; a course leads you through action steps.

I'll use my favorite golden retriever example. You've decided to write a report about finding the right puppy. You've already written articles about puppy mills, SPCA and other animal shelters, pet shops and breeders. What haven't you written about - maybe it's classified ads from unknown owners, golden retriever rescue leagues, and buying purebred vs. a mixed breed. You also haven't written about any diseases or other physical disorders common to the breed, which will come into consideration when deciding what puppy to get. There's your list, open to being edited, of course.

That's what you know. The next step is to research and fill in some details. You'll also be looking out for things you've forgotten about and important things you don't know, which should be included.

You've gotten about 5 pages in writing already done (your articles), you should write a 10-page report at least. You may want to add a few pictures, charts or diagrams, so it may end up being a 15-page report, including cover, table of contents, and resource page

It's good practice to add something to your articles that you've already written, so start your research there. You may find a picture of a puppy mill and an article by someone else that you can add a reference to, giving it's author full credit. You can add links to the SPCA and rescue leagues, and call up a friend who works in a reputable pet shop to ask him a few questions. Quotes from experts also make valuable additions, as do new research findings or news articles.

You then tackle each of the additional subjects one at a time. Inevitably, reading about each topic jogs things in your memory that you already know. Write that down quick. It helps when you're doing the final editing and writing to have as much as possible already in your own words.

Alright, you've got the subject matter of your report done, but it's all for naught if you haven't got some structural elements in place as well. Use plenty of white space, this gives the reader's eye a rest. Choose an attractive font that is also easy to read. Then focus on what I call the interest-catchers. You can have the most interesting report on the planet, but if your title and cover isn't provocative, creative, intriguing, or otherwise captivating, no one will download and read it.

Also, your chapter headings, which will be read in the table of contents, must be engaging. And finally, assuming that somewhere in the report you are promoting yourself, your webpage, your newsletter, your ebook, some action that you want your reader to take...promote with pizzazz. Ask yourself, why would someone feel they HAVE TO click on your link? Make it so.

With planning, research, and creativity, your report can establish you as a writer, expert, and trusted information source, so execute it carefully and spread it around. Whether you give it away on it's own, use it as a bonus, or sell it, you will be amazed at how it enhances your online presence and ultimately, profits.

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0 Market Your Website For The Real World.

Although it is clear that most website users of the internet use search a engines to find their destination, is there a better alternative?

I recently had a look at the stats of a website I have been working on. To my amazement only 5% of the visitors came from other websites or search engines, the rest were direct requests. This website is only 3 months old, so it is fairly new with barely any link popularity, but for such a new website an average of 150 visitors a day, is not too bad.

I asked the owner how he was promoting his website, and to my amazement he was using none other than flyers. The website is advertising his adventure tourism business, as you may have noticed when you visit a tourist destination there are plenty of flyers on the counter. Advertising all sorts of accommodation or locations to visit.

He employed a very smart Graphical Designer to create a flyer that is very eye catching. These flyers are so catchy that he has told me that he never has enough. You may be thinking that this is expensive because you have to pay for the printing, but in actual fact it is much cheaper than some internet advertising. For instance to even have his website listed optimally on Googl's Adwords he would be paying in excess of 50c a click. Whereas printing flyers that can be passed on for years only cost 23c each.

On the other hand some people choose to spend thousands on optimising their websites, gambling to be in the top of the results. Or you could choose to use paid advertising, but targeting your potential customers can be difficult and costly. I am certain that the old fashioned flyer advertising is here to stay.

The benefits of flyers are astronomical; targeting your audience is the key to success. Travel destinations, travel agents and rental agencies are all targeting his potenshal customers. Since he first began his business, he has always used flyer advertising, and with the amalgamation with the website business is soaring. This indicates to me that with the synergy of the real world and the internet we can create very powerful advertising campaigns.

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0 Is Link Marketing Important To My Business?

Link marketing has become something of a wonder. Some will say that if you do it, you'll end up hurt. Others will tell you that you have to follow specific steps to being successful. In any case, the bottom line is that anything positive that you can do to aid your website in getting more visitors should be something that you do, at least to a point. Today, there are hundreds of strategies about what will work in search engine ranking. Some people believe in optimization while others believe in quality content. When it comes to link marketing, there are several things that you should know.

First, realize that there are several types of link marketing to consider.

One way links: To be short, this is one of the best ways to use link marketing. If you use one way links, you are having other website owners list your website link on their page. That may sound strange and you may not realize why anyone would actually want to do that, but the truth is that you can do it. One way links help you to build traffic to your website. They are also highly regarded by the search engines because someone is saying that your website is high quality enough to direct others to it. To use them, visit article directories. Add in a few directories with your link attached and off you go.

Reciprocal links: This type of link is like a trade off. You will place your link on someone's website and then you'll need to place their link on yours. It's a fair trade, so to speak. But, the difference here is how you do it. If you go about adding links to your website that do not have anything to do with your site, or add a ton of them all at once because you purchased them, your website may actually be lowered in the search engine ranks. This is because this is considered a way of cheating the search engines and therefore its not worth it. But, if you put them on correctly, from relevant websites in the proper way, they can help you to improve your website ranking

The important thing to know about link marketing is that it should not be the only thing that you use to get your website ranking well. There are many things to consider that may actually be more important. For example, having quality content on your site, an easy flowing site and even one that will have your visitors coming back are better choices.

When it comes down to it, using link marketing in your website business is important. It should be a part of your strategy of building a well founded, high quality website. After all, you do want the search engines to rank you well enough to get visitors. Why not use other people's rankings to help you to get a few of those visitors as well? In short, using link marketing is a tool you should consider for a successful website design that ranks well with the search engines.

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