Posts Tagged ‘internet marketer’

Here’s a question that I answered lately from a person named Pokey that is new to affiliate and Internet marketing:

Pokey:

I am new to affiliate marketing. I haven’t even started with a program. The problem is, I don’t have money to spend on programs. What are the best free sites? And how can I get started? Anything would help…

ME:
Pokey,

Here is what you should do. Since you do not have much money I would start a blog. I love helping people and I would charge you nothing to help you set one up. I also can easily make you a free template and banner to get started because you need something that is unique. Ok, that’s the easy part. Here is the work.

1. Sign up for an affiliate program. I would do Google Adsense because even though you are starting out making a small amount, you will at least be making some money and that will spur you on to greater heights.

2. We’ll put the Adsense ads on your blog.

3. We will write at least 40 original, fresh articles based on what your niche is. One of my niches is electric bikes. There are millions of them and you need to consider if you are interested in the subject matter before you start writing about them. Also you need to consider whether or not there is a NEED for what you are writing about. If you are going into a niche make sure there are others into the niche because if nobody is in that niche chances are that there is no money to be made there either.

3. Post the articles as you write them. Do not post them all at once because Google likes to see growth over time.

4. When you post, make some of the postings long and some short. SEO experts have determined that posts with about 1200 words with pictures and video from Youtube are for some reason subscribed to the most through RSS feeds.

5. Get an RSS feed from Feedburner.

6. Find a mentor that knows some of this stuff.

7. Buy books on Amazon on Internet Marketing and learn as much as you can.Never stop learning and educating yourself.  People who don’t have much money have book collections smaller than their TV’s.   I’m not talking about romance novels either, I’m talking about How to books and books on business and finance.

I know this is a lot, but you want to have a fast start. I have so much more I could tell you, but I have to run

God Bless!
ELMO
Ellistrated Websites

To get some really good advice for anyone just starting out in Internet Marketing and Affiliate Marketing you should really listen to Mark Ling.  For a young guy he really knows his stuff and he has a site (of which I am not affiliated with in anyway) called Affilorama – Learn How to Build an Affiliate Business.  The reason why i like to highlight Mark and his business is because I followed his advice onbuilding my first affiliate business.  Anyway, check out his site, it might help you out.

Here’s a clip of Mark Ling at Affilorama:

ELMO

I was out sick last week, so I have a lot of catching up to do with my blog posts, but I feel much better this week so I can actually start writing again.

Whee!  Where do I start? I thought that this week I would try to approach the subject of  Internet marketing from the common man’s view rather than to try to come off as an Internet marketing Guru, which I am not anyway.  I have been involved in Internet Marketing for the last 10 years or so and have seen a small amount of success with it.  I do enjoy reading and writing about it, but quite honestly, I have not achieved a great level of success from it.   Perhaps it is because I have not achieved the level of success that many of the online gurus have because I’m not smart enough. Another possible reason why I haven’t been so successful at it is that I can’t seem to find the right product or niche, but whatever the case, I have not made enough money from it to call it significant.

Now, I’m not saying that marketing your business on the Internet is not an important and viable marketing medium for you to use.  Quite honestly, I can’t imagine a business owner that wouldn’t have a website these days.  It is almost the equivalent of carrying around a business card, you just can’t imagine a business owner that wouldn’t have one of those. So, for any business to not have a professional web presence is pretty neglectful for both businesses on and off the Internet.

The problem for most people to understand is how to use a website effectively in order to generate interest in your business.  If you have an offline business, then you shouldn’t have to worry as much about generating customers online as a purely online company or business would.   You would simply make sure that you would put your Web address on your card, your car, your kids forehead and any other creative place you can think of to include your yellow page ad.

However, and I really want to reiterate this point, that Internet marketing by itself and used improperly, will get you nowhere fast.  Used correctly, it can generate a lot of business for you, insure an easy way for your customers to do business with you and give you a world – wide presence for pennies on the dollar.  In that vein the Internet is incredible!

Gary Halburt the famous ad copy writer, used to tell people at his seminars that if you could rank the most effective methods of marketing from top to bottom, face to face selling  being the most effective that here is where the Internet would rank:

1. Face to Face Selling ( The absolute most effective method)
2. Selling on the Phone
3. Public Speaking
4. Referrals from Friends
5. Direct mail Campaigns
6. Advertising on TV and radio
7. Advertising in printed media
8. The Internet ( To include Email)

As Halburt put it, The Internet is actually way in the gutter, as far as effectiveness goes.  The reason?  Massive competition for one thing.  On the Internet, there is literally no new thing under the sun.   So many people that get into affiliate programs or begin to sell their wares on the Internet suddenly will find themselves absolutely overwhelmed by the vast number of people involved in just about every niche that you can imagine.

(As a side note, finding a competitive niche is a pretty good indicator that the niche is viable and the ability to make money there is a strong possibility.)

If you are just getting your feet wet in Internet marketing, here is what I would suggest: First of all, integrate it into your business marketing efforts.  Get your site address (URL) onto the side of your car, letterhead, business card, etc.

Second, get into your database and see if you can acquire or ask your current customers for their email addresses.  offer them something because if they give you permission to send them email then send it as often as you can. You can connect with them every day and that’s about 365 days of pure advertising and branding that you can’t beat. Don’t try to sell them something all of the time, just send out email to them and let them know you are thinking about them.

Third, learn every thing you can about maximum exposure, like online video, email marketing, blogging and all of the stuff that goes along with these mediums.  Sound like a lot of stuff to keep up on?  Well, look at it this way, most high paying executives that make 5 times more than the average working person reads at least 5 books a month.  So, any education that you can give yourself, can really help out.

Time is up for today! I’m going to wind this little act with a clip from one of Gary Halbert’s best videos.  pay close attention students, this is important stuff, ya know!

Peace Out!

ELMO