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By Shane Hunte

Why is article marketing so great? Why do the greatest marketers on the planet employ this method of marketing?

The greatest remain in the front seat because they know what works. The fact that they continue to use article marketing as one of their main methods of marketing shows. You guessed it, article-marketing works for them.

The possibilities for your articles are endless. It is an investment of time and not money, which makes it cost effective. All you need is patience and commitment and you will succeed with this marketing method.

The greatest marketers use this method because:

It is cost effective. Actually, let me tell you plan and simple, there is no cost to do this, it is free.

It builds credibility and expert status on the internet on any subject there is under the sun.

It drives floods of traffic to you promotions.

You reach a laser-targeted audience with you articles.

This method proves to give you quality back-links to your website, and subsequently, raise your website rankings, which equals more traffic.

These are just previews of the wealth that article writing can bring to you. Although these are not all the reasons, these should be enough reasons for you to use this method of marketing.

The most successful people have one thing in common; they copy the best, as we can see, the best marketers all said yes to article marketing as one of their most frequently used internet-marketing methods.

What is the magical blue print for writing articles like the big guns?

Here is the step-by-step blue print that the greatest use to build their articles at lightening speed:

Step 1. Plan your article.

This may sound elementary but very few people can write articles and they try to skip this step entirely.

When you plan your article, it makes it easier to write on the topic that you choose. You need to dedicate time for this step because it is the doorway for the other steps to follow.

Step 2. Brainstorm your article topic.

What are you going to write about and why? Do people want this information? Can you solve a problem that others have? Asking yourself these questions coupled with a little research can get you a long way.

Step 3. Brainstorming your article points and organizing them.

You have a good topic. Now, what are the points that you want to discuss on that topic? Organize these topics into the order in which you want to hit on them first, and then expand on it.

Step 4. Write selflessly about the topic to give quality information to your readers.

This often separates the good from the great. People want information that helps them solve a problem. We usually get the wrong idea with this form of marketing and dive into a sales letter for a product we promote.

You are not promoting a product right now. You are trying to build your credibility in the minds of readers.

This will make them trust you more. They will be more open-minded to your recommendations for your promotions. Sales letters not only will it turn off readers, it also turns off publishers to post your articles on their sites because it is not of value to their website traffic.

Step 5. Double check and triple check your article for mistakes.

You do not want your articles filled with spelling errors and other major or minor mistakes because this will make people not like your writing.

Publishers will review your pieces. If multiple errors show, then it will not be submitted to their audience.

Print out the article, read it aloud, and pass it to a close friend to read it for you, and provide and objective opinion on what they think about your article. Two sets of eyes are better to find mistakes. Use the feedback you get to write better.

Now that you have a simple blue print to follow, consider using it to write articles. Article marketing is the lifeblood for many great marketers out there and you should make it part of your marketing plans. It continuously adds $150-$200 a day to the pockets of those who use it. Maybe that alone could be your motivation to try.

Shane Hunte is an experienced internet marketer who makes a full time income online. If you to would like to learn the simplest way to make money online then learn article marketing. Go to http://www.internetrevinue.com/Jim_Edwards.html to find out everything you need to know today about profiting fast using your own articles.

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By Dee Cohen

Writing articles are effective ways to get one-way links to your site, as well as, to have people learn more about your website or service. There are ways to do this that can make you more successful versus having your articles be overlooked and not considered.

Shane Pearce has written the ‘Lazy Man's Guide to Article Writing’, which outlines some helpful tips. I was impressed with his tip that when you submit your article to an ezine publisher or a webmaster, you can offer that he uses his own affiliate link in place of your own. For instance, if you have written an article on motivation and have a link to a Clickbank ebook on motivation and goals, you can offer the publisher that he uses his own affiliate id instead of yours. What this means is that the ezine or website publisher will be getting a free article already written with a link that may give him some monetary income. You would still have your own information in your resource box at the end, so people can click to your website, as well. Think about what the website publisher you write to will get out of the exchange and find a way to make his or her life easier.

Other tips he gives are to read ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ to find out what people want to know about in terms of popular topics. Shane discusses how to make a viral ebook based on a FAQ niche that can be passed around. If there are frequently asked questions on a topic, it is a sign that the topic has an interest, as well as, there may be an interest in some guide or tutorial.

In addition, I like the sample autoresponder examples he uses with different ideas for a signature file at the end of one's article. I think he is very good at showing how to integrate a couple of affiliate links without being pushy. He recommends sending people to opt-in to a mailing list as part of your signature file.

Another section I found useful discusses how to create checklists and use them both for your website and in articles that lead back to your website. People like checklists. Shane discusses how to use these. They also help break through writer's block or paralysis because you can have a list of steps.

There are ideas given about utilizing both 2-tier affiliate programs and residual income programs that will help you keep you earning as your articles circulate around the net. Shane gives some interesting suggestions on types of sites that work for this.


I also like that Shane gives an example of a flop he did of an unsuccessful attempt at marketing. He analyzes it and compares it to something someone else wrote he feels was better expressed. It is a very interesting study covering various ways to get your articles noticed and published. I publish articles regularly but learned some valuable tips from this ebook.

Dee Cohen is an author and publisher at http://www.socialsitesmarketing.com/article-writing.html; you can visit to learn effective ways to gain traffic by writing free articles.

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By Alvin Phang

Before you decide what to sell on the internet, you have to develop an Internet Marketing Strategy. It is the essential part of your online success on the Internet.

You have to take into consideration the following:
1. Find a large and easy to reach niche market
2. Find a Product or Service the niche market demands
3. Set up your website
4. Have a great sales copy (your 24/7 sales man)
5. Create an opt-in page to collect email address
6. Have a great sales process
7. Make your website scalable and search engine friendly
8. Backend, backend, and backend

Each step plays an important role to your success in your Internet Marketing Strategy Planning. If you miss one-step, you will not be able to see the results you would like to see, as each step is equally important to the other.

1. Find a large and easy to reach niche market.

Your first step in your Internet Marketing Strategy planning requires you to do your research. Find a large and easy to reach niche market to promote your product. From here, you can go to Free Keywords tools and search for niche keywords that have high click through and low competitions.

Example, the keyword “Dog Food For Sale”, when you search that on Google, there are actually 5,650,000 which is seriously not a lot of competition but you also have to check is there a demand for it by using tools from www.seobook.com to look at the KEI rate. The higher the KEI rate the better the keyword.

2. Find a Product or Service the niche market demands.

After you have found two or three keywords that you would like to target, you would want to find products that will serve the market that demands it.

Example the keyword “Dog Food for Sale”, you would not want to promote Cat Food, as it does not relate to the topic you want to promote. So find related products like an eBook “where to find a great sale for dog food” or “dog products that dogs like to eat.”

3. Setup your website.

After you have decided what product or service you want to sell online, you would want to setup a website to promote your product. The best way to do it is by creating a Blog talking only about Dog Food that is for Sale, because Google and Yahoo search-engines love Blogs so much. You virtually get listed just 24 hours upon updating, compared to a normal website, which will take at least a few weeks to be ‘cached’ into the search engine.

4. Have great sales copy (your 24/7 sales man).

Do not be mistaken, sales copy is not the sale. A sales copy is a page with descriptions and details to promote your product on your website. When I first heard of this term sales copy, I was totally stunted how important it was to have a sales copy.

Depending on how good your copy writing skills are, you can get people to write your sales copy, or simply teach yourself to write one. If you can try to write it yourself, as copy, writing is a very good skill to learn, especially when you are an Internet Marketer who plans Internet Marketing Strategy.

5. Create an opt-in page to collect email address.

This is another important step that many do not have. It is the most important. Why? It is because they fail to collect email address from their website. With the email address, you can design out your sales process in the next step, which I will explain further.

6. Have a great sales process

With your opt-in page in place, you can use the captured email address and name to follow up with people who are interested to know more about what you are promoting in your opt-in page. This is a way to build your email list, and keep, and send them information or promotion products to sell those products again in the future.

7. Make your website scalable and search engine friendly.

With all that done, you would now need to read up on Search Engine Optimization. Practicing this will allow search engines like Yahoo and Google to spider your website easily. The good thing about Blogs is that you can ping the search engines to spider your site easily and you can be listed very quickly within 24 hours.

8. Backend, backend, and backend

Upon completion of all seven steps, you just need to keep on sending backend information to your list from your opt-in emails that you receive and keep on driving traffic from your opt-in page to get more email address to sent out promotions to your customers.

If you constantly follow this eight-step formula for your Internet Marketing Strategy Plan, you will see great massive results after 3 months upon setup. So do the math and start planning your Internet Marketing Strategy today!

Alvin Phang is the owner of http://GatherSuccess.com. Get the right Internet Marketing Strategy for your Internet Business with our free resource of Tutorials, Video and much more...

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By Jeff Neil

Usually when we think of multilevel marketing, what comes to mind is recruiting. We try to find people who want to earn money from home, and then convince them to join our opportunity. Convincing is the key word here. Nobody wants to join a convincing business. However, that is what we do in our industry.

Then we wonder why we have a hard time building a solid organization.

Initially, people join an mlm opportunity for the money. I mean, that is why we do this, for the money right?

Maybe.

If you look at the leaders in this industry, and in your own organization, I mean really look. You will see they offer something to their downline more than just “How to Make Money". Because the ‘how-to's’ can be found in your local bookstore, or even the public library.

Sorry to tell you, but just the "how-to's" will never be enough.

One of the things your leaders are doing is they are busy climbing the mountain. They are going on ahead of the pack. They make sure the mountain is safe to climb. While you are climbing that mountain, your leaders are encouraging you. As if to say "Yeah, you can do it, if I made it this far so can you".

Your leaders are also yelling down to you, they are pointing out where the rocks are. In addition, giving advice on how to go over the rocks, or under them, or around them. A great leader will even try to get you up the mountain even higher than the leader is.

Remember, MLM is certainly not the only way to make money. Just watch late night television.

Pretend you watched some infomercial on TV, and ended up buying an ATM machine, or some Internet Kiosk Thingy. Are those companies going to do all the stuff your upline does? No. They will not, "because they don't care about you.” However, your upline does!

It is this extra attention. The caring leadership. The built in self-development that appeals to so many people. In addition, do not forget, people are becoming more spiritually aware than ever before.

I am not talking religion here either. People are tired of the corporate, do not give a damn rat race, tread mill, life they are living. They want purpose, and passion. People want to feel good inside. They want to feel important.

Like they belong to something, a movement. In addition, they want to feel that what they are doing with their lives is of value to other people. Because when you uncover all the B.S., people, almost all people, are really, nice.

So let us point this back to you. I know you are a nice person. However, what can you do to inspire people? If you can inspire others, you will set yourself apart from all the other, "please join me" net workers.

In addition, you do want that, right?

So first, forget about the money. The money will come. However, stop focusing on it when you are dealing with people. Think about your vision, and all that when you are alone.

Pretend you are doing mlm free. As a volunteer thing. Alternatively, charity. Ask yourself why. With the money issue gone, why would you do mlm? If you cannot find an answer, you are in the wrong industry. Go sell vacuum cleaners or something.

Because if you do not love this, if you do not feel this business, people will not follow you. In addition, you will never be able to grow much of a downline.

Find the desire to be better, to do more, to grow as a human being, and to bring up as many people as you can along the way. Think about how you can give increase to everyone you meet. Even if you have no intentions to do business with them.

Think about what your purpose is. It does not have to be to save the world, just something you feel very strongly about. In addition, how being in the network marketing industry is helping you with your purpose.

In addition, you need to have confidence. Yes, things can get scary. However, just do a tiny little thing you have never done before. Something small that you know will help you or others. Then do just a tiny little bit more.

All those little actions will become big actions. You will build your confidence and be someone who takes big actions.

If you think about it, you already know what to do. Because growing yourself and others is a very natural thing. Just allow yourself to do it. In addition, fine-tune it as you go along.

Jeff Neil is a tattooed, bald headed ex-cop who sells candles in his spare time. However, you do not care about that. What you might care about is how to be a leader in this industry. Find out at his mlm blog http://www.4mlm.com/category/mlm-leadership/.

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By Sharon Housley

Let us look at slogans and how just a few words can say volumes. A slogan is a memorable phrase used in conjunction with a political, commercial, or religious advertisement. Slogans convey a deeper meaning. Slogans elicit emotions, or the slogan might paint a visual image that implies something more.

When considering a slogan or a tagline, keep in mind your objectives. What image do you wish to portray? Slogans should be short, but not to the point of being curt. Slogans should conjure positive images and distinguish the value your company or product provides.

The best way to analyze slogans is to look at a few.

Slogan: "The toughest job you will ever love" (Peace Corps)

Message behind slogan: This is much more than just a job; it takes heart to be in the Peace Corps; join the Peace Corps and you will be a better person. This job is not about money, it is about helping people.

Slogan: "Be Seen, Be Sold" (Shareware Promotions)

Message behind slogan: Being found on the Internet is not easy. Use us to be found on the Internet."

Slogan: "You could learn a lot from a dummy. Buckle up" (National Highway Traffic Safety Admin)

Message behind slogan: Learn from test dummies, be safe and buckle up.

Slogan: "Parents who use drugs have kids who use drugs" (The Partnership for a Drug-free America)

Message behind slogan: Model what you preach; do you want your children to do drugs? It is your responsibility to model appropriate behavior for your children.

Slogan: "This is your brain on drugs" (The Partnership for a Drug-free America)

Message behind slogan: Do you know what this stuff does to you? Taking drugs is stupid.

Slogan: "A diamond is forever" (DeBeers '1948)

Message behind slogan: Diamonds represent marriage; marriage should be forever. If you really want your marriage to last, seal it with a diamond.

Slogan: "It takes a licking and keeps on ticking" (Timex Corp)

Message behind slogan: It does not get any more durable than this, other watches cannot stand up, but Timex will endure regardless of the treatment.

Slogan: "For all you do, this Bud's for you" (Budweiser)

Message behind slogan: After a long hard day, drink beer to relax.

Slogan: "Where's the beef?”(Wendy’s)

Message behind slogan: Our competitors use small patties, but our burgers are big.

Slogan: "I love New York" (NYC)

Message behind slogan: New York is a special place, everyone loves NY, you should come and visit, you will love it too.

Slogan: "See what brown can do for you" (UPS)

Message behind slogan: We do more than just ship packages; we have additional offerings and can do more than just ship.

Slogan: "The few, the proud, the Marines" (US Marines)

Message behind slogan: We are a select group of very special individuals. Do you want to be elite? Take pride in representing the US.

Slogan: "Friends don't let friends drive drunk"

Message behind slogan: You will die if you drive drunk. It is your responsibility to protect your friends. Be responsible, do not let people drive drunk.

Effective slogans leave impressions in the minds of people who see or hear the slogans. Often slogans will have hidden meanings, or be a play on words. The goal of the slogan creator should be to create a memorable tagline that conveys a key benefit or differentiates the brand. Slogans will often help position the product or service in the marketplace. Slogans with just a few words can indicate superior value, excellence, or inspiration.

A business identity and image conveyed through a short statement will affect the way that consumers, competitors, and others in the industry perceive your business. Slogans will distinguish your company in a unique way. Words are powerful, and if used properly, they can be an important sales tool.

Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net a wireless text messaging software company.

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By Alex Nghiem

In the Internet marketing world, there are many misconceptions and outright lies. However, the biggest secret is one that is so obvious nobody wants to talk about, or even being aware. In this article, I share what I (and many world-class marketers) consider the biggest “secret” in Internet marketing.

At this point, you are probably wondering. “What is the BIGGEST secret?”

Before I share this secret with you, let me share a common mistake committed by 99% of Internet marketers. Almost all Internet marketers I know can quote you their opt-in rate and spend hours, days, weeks, and even months tweaking their landing pages to get the highest opt-in rate. This is accomplished by asking for as little customer information as possible and casting as wide a net as possible. This usually requires asking for only the first name and the primary email address.

In many industries, this results in optimizing for the wrong results. What do I mean by that?

I spend a lot of time in multiple industries other than Internet marketing (including real estate, art, etc.) and for a long time, I was focusing on increasing my opt-in rate, but rarely closed any sales (my sales for my products and my clients’ products range from $997 to $25,000 per sale). When I thought about it, I realized that in all of these industries and especially at these price points, the sale is accomplished via the phone, not via the Web.

Thus, without realizing it, I was not collecting all the necessary information for me to complete a sale (that is, I was not asking for a phone number because I knew this would reduce my opt-in rate). Most of the “gurus” who are teaching list building do not take into account industries that conduct business primarily offline and/or the fact that high-end products are not closed via email alone. I am not sure any of them has ever tested their methods in offline businesses!

Now, I do a 2-step opt-in rate that allows me to have the highest opt-in rate on the first page and then ask for additional info (including the phone number and mailing address) on the “thank you” screen. This enables me to follow up via offline methods including postcards, direct mail, and even telemarketing.

What does this have to do with the biggest secret in Internet marketing? Simple…the most valuable leads often require you to follow up using offline methods. However, this contradicts almost all list building techniques being taught, which usually teach how to get the highest opt-in rate. In this case, I made more money by having a lower opt-in rate…but I got higher quality leads, which enable me to follow up via offline methods. Again, in many, many industries, the sales happen via the phone and in some cases via the fax and direct mail.

Therefore, before you spend too much time focusing on optimizing your opt-in rate alone, think through the sales process and figure out the best way to close the sale. Collect information for that to happen, even if it means a lower opt-in rate.

Now you know the biggest secret in Internet marketing. The next time somebody brags about their 50% opt-in rate, you will know that he/she is probably optimizing on the wrong thing and leaving WAY too much money on the table.

To get regular notifications on high-end product creation secrets, visit http://www.backendcashmanuscript.com/fromarticles

© Blue Samba Publications – All Rights Reserved
http://www.backendcashmachine.com

Alex Nghiem is the founder of Blue Samba Solutions, creator of the Backend Cash Machine, a proven system for enabling clients to make up to 10X by building a backend of high-end products. His system has been used in multiple industries including art, real estate, and many offline industries.

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By Aran Kay

To view where the facts came from to write this article, please click on the links below:

1. Jakob Nielsen for Sun MicroSystems (http://www.sun.com/980713/webwriting/)
2. Stanford Poynter Project (http://www.poynterextra.org/et/i.htm)

This article will highlight the differences between writing copy for the web and writing copy for print. Some of these facts go against intuition and against cultural norms. However, these facts detail how people read on the web.

There is no use in arguing against them. Instead, you should embrace them and use this knowledge to your advantage. Here is what the facts are and how they are going to affect your website.

1) Where Do Eyes Go First When Your Homepage Comes Up?

Contrary to what you might think, it is not towards the graphics or photos like in print advertising. Instead, your prospects eyes will first go to the copy, specifically, your headline and sub-heads. Therefore, your first chance to engage the prospect is through copy, not graphics.

Most web users look at a web page for only 3-15 seconds before deciding whether to stay or move on. The fact that they look at copy first has massive implications for your website. Fancy graphics will not make a prospect stay on your website. However, a strong headline and strong sub-heads will.

2) How Much Of Your Copy Do Users Actually Read?

The fact is that online users, on average, read 75% of the length of any given page. This is big news because most web pages will have the important conclusions, calls to action, and order information on the bottom 25% of any given page. That is a big no-no, because it will never be read.

You have to have your call to action and order information presented early on your web page to ensure it is read.

3) Why Do Most Banner Ads Produce Poor Click-Through Rates?

How long will an average user look at your banner ad? 1.25 seconds. That is just enough time to perceive one image or six words (based on college student's average reading speed of 350 words/minute).

Therefore, banner ads that have animation, taking 4-5 seconds to run through a cycle, or more than 6 words must be reconsidered. However, if you really must keep your animated banner ad because "it just looks so cool!" I would suggest that you at least keep your company logo visible throughout the entire animation sequence.

4) Why Is Reading Online More Frustrating Than Reading Print?

Reading from a computer screen causes a person's reading speed to slow by 25%, when compared to reading print. This means reading long copy online can be very frustrating. Break up the copy to help users through.

Have a few one-line paragraphs.

Use headlines and sub-heads to summarize information. Users who are tired of reading word-by-word can quickly scan the rest of your document.

5) Are Your Web Page Users Not Getting The Whole Picture?

If you have not made your web page truly scannable, prospects to your site may only be getting part of the sales message. Only 21% of online users read word-by-word. The other 79% scan a web page headline-to-headline, sub-head to sub-head, picking up only the larger, bolded, or italicized copy.

Your sales message has to be read by both scanners and word-by-word readers. Therefore, all your major selling points, benefits, call to action, and order info must be in easily scannable type.

Otherwise, your website will only generate 21% of the sales. In addition, for the money you put into your website, which is not good enough.

So, if online reading is so different from offline reading. Clearly, your web copy has to follow suit. Take home message? Make sure your website is performing on all cylinders. Have a professional web writer write your website. It will save you money in the end.

Aran Kay is a marketing consultant and freelance copywriter with experience working for Nintendo, Direct Energy, Kellogg's and more. He has written numerous marketing articles, and includes a selection of them on his web site. http://www.ProfessionalCopy.ca is also your source for "The 52 Best Marketing Web Sites." It is a great resource and yours FREE just for visiting his web site.

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By Dechen Lau

Content is the soul of a website. Content is comprised of the words or text on a web page along with the graphics and structure of a website. Today Web content is the best tool for building relations with your potential customers. The look and feel of a site is crucial, but quality web content may be more important.

Two of the most popular methods of getting traffic from search engines include PPC – (Pay Per Click), and SEO – (Search Engine Optimization).

PPC:

Pay per click advertising on search engines allows you to choose keywords that you would like your site to appear for, when a search is performed. You decide how much you are willing to pay each time a person clicks on the search results. The more you are willing to pay per click, the higher your site will appear in the results for the keywords you choose. Pay Per Click is advertising provided by the search engine providers (Google, Yahoo! and others) where you PAY for top placement. Their strategies for placement differ slightly. Some search engines will give you higher placement if your ad has a higher click-through rate, (meaning more people click on your ad in ratio to the amount of times your ad appears); others give top positions to the highest bidder.

You already know surveys are excellent for finding out what your target market wants. However, if combined with low cost, quick and dirty Google PPC, surveys can also send many targeted prospects to your site every month.

In either case, you PAY. It is a quick way to be listed in the search engines and a smart way to get your traffic flowing. You could spend far more than is profitable for your business, if you do not know what you are doing.

Search Engines: While crawling pages of a website, search engines look for content more than anything else. Search engines can pick up quality content and it is the only factor that they emphasize and value most while ranking a website. For the benefit of their users, search engines try to find the best and most useful content on the Internet for any given set of keywords.

SEO:

Search engines are extremely competitive (in terms of placement). The major search engines account for over 90% of all traffic. With that though in mind, companies that are serious about earning a share of the internet market should be committed to securing top 10 rankings for the keywords or phrases that pertain to the products and services that they offer.

The best way to ensure a solid return on your website investment is to employ the services of a Search Engine Optimization firm with a proven track record of success, knowledge of current and cutting edge techniques, and experience working with the business community.

There are a lot of companies working ‘behind the scenes’ to help website owners get plenty of traffic from the natural search engine listings. Natural listings mean the search engine has ranked you according to the value it believes your site will offer an individual searching for a specific word or phrase.

Understanding exactly WHAT the search engines want to see when ranking sites requires knowledge of the algorithms. These algorithms change all the time as search engine providers try to outwit the search engine optimizers trying to find loopholes in the ranking system.

Some SEO companies will promise you top spots for a certain cost. Some are honestly creating optimized websites – others may be using techniques that could possibly get your site BANNED from the search engines entirely, (once the search engine catches on). However, optimizing your website for better placement in the search engines is a technique that you should become familiar with and use to your advantage.

Both of these traffic methods have their pros and cons for generating traffic from the search engines. You will find out more about using them properly later on. First, you need to know what REALLY works…

Dechen Lau., is an Author, Speaker and Internet Marketing Consultant
http://www.powersuccessmarketing.com
http://www.powersuccessresponder.com

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By Obono John

You are ready to launch that new product or promotion. You are really counting on a piece of advertising copy to come through for you.

You are looking for stellar results! In addition, you are determined to do everything in your power to get them. This means surveys, thorough testing, and ongoing refinement of your ad copy.

Hold the phone!

You finish your draft and run it through this 12-point inspection. Cover all these basics, and you can be certain you are off to a running start.

1 – Do You Have A Compelling Headline?

Does it generate curiosity or envy? Does it promise a benefit that will compel someone with an interest in what you are selling to keep reading? Remember, your headline is the ad for the ad.

When I write direct response ad copy, or a sales letter, or have a very important sales objective of my own, I normally write 25 headlines before I begin the body of the piece.

Then I will pick half a dozen that I think will work & test them. The best of the rest, I use as sub headings throughout the piece to propel readership, and draw skimmers & skippers back into the copy as they move down the page.

2 – Are Your Headlines Pleasing To The Eye?

I most often find that headlines work best when centered on the page, and present a balanced appearance in terms of the shape they create. Encasing them in quotation marks also serves to grab more attention.

Long, top headlines tend to reduce readership, but if they help qualify more effectively, they can improve sales! Try them, but look for ways to modularize the text using punctuation and spacing so your readers do not suffocate trying to read them. Sometimes a long, top headline needs to be two or even three separate headlines.

3 – Is Your Opening Provocative & Arresting?

Does it trip the reader, interrupting the internal turbulence of the day? Each line of your ad copy must serve to "sell" the reader on continued reading, especially at the beginning.

You are looking to build enough momentum and interest to convey the points necessary to generate a greater desire for the product than its price. The higher the cost of the product, the more words required.

4 – Are You FAB Balanced?

You must focus on painting a picture of your prospects future life, because of their purchase. Does your copy promise emotional benefits? Does it pledge the realization of positive feelings, or the relief of negative ones?

Does it show how to achieve these outcomes with concise descriptions of the features and advantages that will deliver them? Your ad copy must strike a balance between emotion and logic if it is to be effective.

5 – Are You Creating Excitement & Enthusiasm?

Demonstrate your personal belief in what you are selling. Will your message quicken the readers pulse? Is it upbeat, positive, & full of inspired energy? Is there a sense of WOW?

6 – Is Your Body Copy Highly Readable?

Remember simple is best. Keep sentences short. Use a plain 10-point to 12-point font. Keep paragraphs to a few lines. Use words that are comfortable and specific to the audience you are targeting. Inject subheads to break up text. Highlight important points.

7 – Do You Have High ‘YOU’ density?

Remember to use the words ‘YOU’ and ‘YOUR’ to the hilt. Your reader is auto-translating to ‘ME’ and ‘MINE’.

8 – Are you speaking intimately?

Can you get a strong sense of personality when you review your letter after being away from it for a while? Visualize yourself, or the character you are personifying, writing a personal letter to your perfect prospect. Never write to a crowd.

9 – Are you inspiring the reader’s imagination?

You must trigger mental images with your writing. The mind has difficulty distinguishing between vividly painted word pictures, and reality. Daydreams enchant, and emotions flow in their wake.

When you have emotion, you have desire. When you have desire, you have suggestibility. When you have suggestibility, you can direct action. Your levers are allegory (storytelling), metaphor, similes, verbs, adjectives, and specificity.

10 – Do you offer proof?

Specific testimonials and convincing guarantees worked into your ad copy are essential.

Obono John is the owner of http://www.butterflymarketzone.blogspot.com, The Viral Marketing Experiment.

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By Ian Simpson

One of the most effective forms of low-cost Internet marketing is using email to reach a targeted audience. While email marketing has undergone changes over the years, in particular, the outlawing of spam email, it still has great appeal and is one of the most widely used internet marketing techniques. It is quite simply the best way to keep in touch with your customers on a regular basis on autopilot. Providing you respect the spam laws and use email properly, you will have a trouble-free email marketing business.

Email marketing is more commonly associated with the use of an autoresponder service. It allows you to import your email messages into the autoresponder and send them out to your customers at a fixed date and time - you could have a series of messages sent over a period of weeks, months or even years, if you wanted. The exciting thing is that once the autoresponder has been set up, that part of your business will run hands free, allowing you to concentrate on other important things.

The costs associated with an autoresponder vary considerably from free up to $100 a month. Try to avoid free autoresponders where possible, although they are free, they come at a price! The price being the restrictions on usage, and they will nearly always carry an advert of some sort on your message, which can distract your recipient from the real reason, why they have received the message. In addition, it is not necessary to pay a silly price for an autoresponder, big companies may want to pay top price because they can afford to but as an individual, you do not need to. Excellent, cost effective autoresponder services can be obtained from aweber.com or getresponse.com. These are web-based programs so they will work for you 24/7.

You could of course, use a desktop-based autoresponder such as Mailloop. This type of program is a software application installed on your computer and it allows you to manage your email campaigns from your desktop. You need to be aware that you will need to leave your computer running all the time or else you will not be able to receive or send emails automatically. However, it is a great way to have a series of autoresponders for a one-time payment and no recurring fees.

So, having decided on using autoresponders for your email business, what do you do with one? Well, building up a customer database should be a priority. Initially, you will want to create a form for your website that allows potential subscribers to insert their details. When they agree to subscribe, they enroll automatically onto an email course that you will have loaded into the autoresponder. The course can, as long as you want it to be, sent automatically over a period of time - this is where the automation of your email business will come into its own. It is essential that any information you send to your subscribers is of value and instructive. It is no good sending rubbish; you will lose your subscriber quicker than you got him! Quality email courses you can use are found in the Turbomembership.com.

If you offered a 14-day email course on internet marketing, for example, then you could provide links to various marketing ebooks or resources. In each email would be a link to a different ebook. Of course, each link would have your unique affiliate code. The unique Turbomembership.com affiliate program provides quality marketing ebooks and software scripts that you can re-sell at 95% commission.

This is just one of the many ways you can use autoresponders in your email marketing business. Finding and using the right autoresponder service, setting up your autoresponder, and loading, it with quality information is just the tip of the iceberg where marketing is concerned. However, it is a good place to start and gain the necessary experience for future marketing projects.

Ian Simpson reviews and writes about software and informational products on the internet. Great marketing resources can be found at http://information4income.com/sfpr.

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By Krishna De

Are you losing credibility and damaging the brand of your business through lack of attention to one of your critical marketing tools in your business, your business card? Discover how your business card can enhance your brand and ensure that you stand out from your competition.

When we are at a networking event or meeting a client, exchanging business cards occurs.

Very often, without realizing it, we are assessing our colleague by their business card, and asking ourselves:

- Is the business card professionally designed?
- Is the business card crumpled at the edges?
- How does the weight of the business card feel - substantive or flimsy?
- Does it look like the business card was made on their PC - or worse, does it have a message at the bottom of the card to say where you, too, can access free cards?

I have collected thousands of business cards over my time in business. I am sub-consciously assessing the professional status of them and their business when I receive their business card.

We review someone's card at least 3 times:

1. Once on receiving it
2. A second time when we put it in our pocket, folio or bag as we leave the meeting
3. A third time as we make a decision to keep it, transfers the information into our data bank, or bin it!

Our business card is a critical part of our marketing collateral. If you cannot afford to put in place other marketing materials, short changing the investment in developing a professional business card is definitely not something we should do, if we are looking to develop a professional brand.

When meeting someone in person, alongside how you present yourself in person, your business card can enhance or devalue the strength of your brand, and it reveals how others perceive you.

Here are four tips to enhance your brand through your business card:

1. Ensure that you work with a professional designer to develop your business card. It is not whether you like the design; it is about whether it will represent your business effectively and professionally to your target audience.

2. Ideally, have your business card printed on 400g card and by a traditional lithographic printer. Yes, it is more expensive than digital printing, but the quality is worth investing in and a litho print gives far greater definition to your corporate identity and the color of your brand.

3. Matt laminates your card on the reverse for extra stability and style. Do not laminate both sides as people will not be able to write on your card - we often note down things to remember about the person we met on their card.

4. Use the valuable real estate on the back of your card to provide a call to action, for example, how to access your white paper or special report on your web site.

Take action:

Over the next 30 days, take the opportunity to review the business cards of your contacts and assess their card against yours.

1. What can you learn from other people’s business cards?

2. How could you take those learning’s and further enhance your business card?

Your goal is to ensure that your business card is a positive reflection of both you and your company, and it represents a strong brand.

Invest in your business card, distribute it widely and you will be sure of expanding your professional success.

Krishna De invites you to join her in conversation with experts from around the globe to discover how to build your brand and grow your professional services firm at http://www.bizgrowthlive.com/. You will also receive access to Biz Growth Express a weekly newsletter bringing you strategies, inspiration and tips to grow your professional services practice. Register today at http://www.krishnade.com/.

©Krishna De, Oneocean Ltd 2006. All rights reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article providing the article is printed in its entirety; you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in anyway and include the copyright statement.

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By Damon Smith

Everyone in online marketing or affiliate marketing, earning an income, has to research all over the internet to get the information he or she needs to succeed.

I have seen people spend hours, days, weeks, months, and even years just to come out making little or no income at all. As a publisher online, for Hailey Comet Weekly, I have met some of the most powerful people that have made thousands, even millions of dollars with the time they have been online.

Some have done it in as little as a few months and then retired. Then you have those who work very hard every day, no matter how much they make to help others to do the same. Do you remember when the doublers programs hit the internet and people made hundreds even thousands over night? Do you remember what happened within two months of them hitting the internet? People that were dealing with Storm Pay were stuck holding an empty bag because they went under and all kinds of trouble broke out.

The only true programs that make money are ones that last. There are very few of these. One that has made it to the top is Success University, because of the people behind the program, not because they have specials all the time, but because there are REAL people to talk with and to learn and teach you. I have met with people that joined the so-called PAS program and paid out $3,900!

In addition, most of them did not get anything from it. Do you know why? Because there was no one to teach them how to market the program, to make a profit, and they ended up being burnt!

Look at this link, http://www.damonday.net

If you take the time to read it, you will not only see that this group of master marketers are online to help you make a living , but also to teach you how to talk with others in a way to make them buy from you, and learn to work together as a team.

Success University is just what the name stands for. They have been online for quite sometime. The companies that I own depend on the things that I learn online. I would only suggest what I know will work to my own list of people, and not something, that is gone the next day.

My own list of people in my newsletter trust me because they all know, over the past 9 years, that when I have something to tell them it is only the truth and not something that will break their bank accounts. I have been called "The Howard Stern" of publishing and my newsletter is in most of the biggest Co-Ops and directories and forums. The reason for my success is because of people like Damon Day (It is funny we both have the same first names)

However, a "FLY BY NIGHT" company Success University is not. Some of the biggest companies there are back it. It is not just for people who are into affiliate marketing but also for people just starting out online and do not want to lose a lot of money. I will tell you from the start that it takes money to make money. This one company can take your funds, and turn it into something to be proud of. Right now, they are running a $2 14 day trial offer, and the monthly cost is less then a night on the town. So do not miss something that will give you everything you need to earn online.

So take five minutes of your time and look. It will surprise you to see what some people will do to help others instead of just thinking of themselves and what they can get out of people that don’t know any better.

Example: http://www.damonday.net

If you talk with Damon, tell him that I sent you to him so he will know that after everything we have been through, I still believe there are good people online!

Damon Smith is the publisher of Hailey Comet Weekly eZine that gives you the truth about online marketing and advertising. You can check out his newsletter at http://www.haileyscometweekly.com and get some of the best insight info on how he went from nothing to earning thousands a month by helping others.

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By P.V. Reymond

In Internet Marketing, many tools exist to build your business or increase your income. You can find lots of software, books, or videos, but you have to know how to use them.

Before you begin to use them, you need to have clarity. There is a tool you may not know very well. It is the most powerful tool that we all have; it is the mind.

Nothing can compete with your mind. You have to use it well. With your mind, you will be able to control everything. Did you know that Yoga experts can stop the beat of the heart or have surgery without anesthesia? Maybe someone does not believe it but it is true and in Internet Marketing, it is the same. If you are using your mind in the right way, you will get good results, and you will have a high percentage of success.

In order to achieve your goals you need to concentrate and have a clear vision of all the ways you have to travel. You have to create the conditions for good concentration, removing all marginal distractions possible, and ignoring others.

It is important to prepare a long-term plan, and divide it into levels, and each level into a systematic process. When you achieve level one, you go to level two, and so on. In this system, your mind plays a fundamental role because there is no software able to build your system. You are the only one that can build it, because you know what you want and where you want to go. This is the point; your mind is your guide. It controls the whole process and it is stronger than any other tool you have.

The essential thing is to maintain an attitude of mental activity, and to avoid anything that will reduce this and make you passive. Thinking and applying systematically will help you to grow; you will discover the power of your mind. Train your mind.

Do not be afraid to make a mistake. Remember, nobody learns from the mistakes of others; you have to try to believe in you. Put such fears to rest! You only have to think, think, and think; and in this way you will learn how to act and how to do everything right.

It is obvious you will have to face some problems traveling along your road. Then your mind will come to help you and you will find the solution in a short period. A powerful mind accomplishes results in the shortest time and with the least amount of wasted motion.

In order to be successful in Internet Marketing you have to focus your niche and to pay close attention to it. Ask yourself, what am I looking for? Keep it in the background of your mind and search for the answer. Knowing everything about you and about what you want, will help you to develop your business.

Keep your mind free; keep a sharp lookout, at every point, to see that you build into the foundation only those materials and that workmanship which will support a masterly structure.

Everyone has difficulty in the concentration of attention, workers in business and industry, students and even professors, complain of the same difficulty. Attention seems in some way to be at the very core of mental activity. Therefore paying attention to your niche and working only in this direction is crucial.

Using your mind as a tool is the most effective factor to be successful.

Copyright © 2006 PV Reymond.

P.V. Reymond is a marketer that built his business alone. He was growing inside the crowd, studying and learning how big marketers treat their customers, and how customers want to be treated. He came out from the crowd to teach people the whole process in how to build a profitable Internet Business with his Free Internet Marketing Education. If you are not making money online or you want to increase your income, then you should visit his site http://www.pvreymond.com.

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By Robert Wilkinson

If you use direct mail, it is in your best interest to get as much of it opened and read as possible. You may have spent a small fortune on the copywriting and the expensively printed brochure, but if you do not ensure that as many packs are opened and read as possible, then both copy and brochure are wasted.

There are two main schools of thought on how to avoid being binned. The first is to use disguise, and the second is to use persuasion.

Using disguise is mainly a business-to-business approach, but it works for business to consumer mailings also. Businesses to business promotional mailings are marked out so they do not appear to have been handled individually. This can be indicated by an envelope pre-printed with a postage mark, and the use of a window or address labels to show an address.

Try one or more of the following to give the envelope a more individual look.

Use stamps. They have to have been put on by hand, so it must be individual. There is no more obvious an indicator than a pre-printed stamp impression. When using a preprinted impression in conjunction with a window envelope it practically screams, advertising so do not do it.

Hand write the address on the envelope. This is probably only viable for higher value items and certainly get more attention this way. It does not have to be copperplate; it just needs to look as though it has been handled individually.

Use an unusual material for the envelope, say vellum or a textured paper. In tests conducted by a paper merchant, this alone increased responses significantly. The additional revenue generated by the mailing more than compensated for the additional cost for the special paper.

Again, do anything to make your mailing appear more individual and personal to the recipient. Probably the most important element is the use of stamps. This on its own can be enough to get you under the recipient's radar.

Secondly, use persuasive tactics. This is completely the opposite from disguise and is used mainly for business to consumer, but again it works for business to business too. In this instance, we mark it out specifically as commercial by using advertising images, copy, and headlines on the outside of the envelope itself. In this instance, it does not matter if you use a printed postal impression.

Unlike the previous method, which uses curiosity to get your envelope opened, we need to give the recipient a good reason to open the envelope. This can take a variety of forms, but as a couple of examples you can state a benefit, "Increase sales by 15%", or alternatively provide an incentive, "Reply by the end of the month and get 2 for the price of 1".

Be very clear and very specific about what the contents are going to achieve and remember you are only trying to get the envelope opened and read. Avoid anything vague. Do not expect to appeal to everyone using this method. You do not have that much room on the envelope and you cannot be all things to all people.

I hope you will achieve a strong enough response in a small percentage of recipients that they will open, and read the contents. Your persuasive copy will follow logically on from the envelope copy, and keep your prospect interested.

There is a lot of advice against this in business-to-business direct mail, and there is probably an element of truth in this. If you are mailing to an executive whose mail is screened then its likely good advice. However, there are plenty of owner/managers out there that still open their own mail, if the offer or benefit is clear enough, and of interest to open. You may well consign your mailing piece to the bin for the 99.5% of your prospects by doing this, but it was not about them, was it?

In summary, it is simple. Do not be run of the mill. Step away from the norm and make sure your envelope is overtly commercial with a clear benefit, or incentive, or alternatively make it look personal. If you do this, you are halfway to getting it read and that is more than half the battle.

Robert Wilkinson is the owner of http://www.arhiann.com a direct mail production company specializing in mailings for small and medium sized business.

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By Andreas Sundstrom

Running a traditional brick and mortar business with an online presence, is one very good way to make a part of your living online. However, for the purposes of this article, we are going to assume that you do not have your own business. Therefore, I am going to discuss two of the biggest online moneymakers right now: online business opportunities and affiliate marketing.

Network marketing

The typical online business opportunity built around a network-marketing concept, inheriting the basic qualities of the offline business model that has been available for many decades. The basic idea is that you recruit two or more people, who in their turn recruit two, and in this way your efforts, (at least in theory), are greatly leveraged.

The main difference doing this online is that, utilizing the power of the Internet, you as a network marketer can literally reach people all over the planet.

The problem with the network marketing, or "mlm", concept is it sounds so good on paper - excessively good. Most people who join with a company of this type tend to get a dose of Mr. Reality rather soon.

They discover that recruiting new people, which is what mlm’s are all about - even if they try to tell you differently -, is not at all a simple process. There have been plenty of fraudulent businesses in this niche, and people tend to stay on their toes as soon as they hear the words mlm or network marketing.

To further complicate things, this business model is also based on you paying a set monthly fee - whether you make any money or not, which means many people who start this kind of business actually end up losing money.

It is definitely possible to make a good living in network marketing, but it is definitely not for everybody. "Getting in on the ground floor" is allegedly not always as good as it seems.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is similar to network marketing, in the sense that you will be promoting a product produced by another company or person. This can make life simpler for you, as the merchant usually takes care of all shipping and customer support issues. Amazon.com is probably one of the most well-known (and respected) companies utilizing the power of affiliate partnerships.

As an affiliate, your task is simply to refer new clients to the merchant. When these people buy something, you receive credit with a certain percentage of the sale.

Contrary to network marketing, acting as an affiliate marketer, is generally free. There are certain companies that have a hybrid structure between network and affiliate marketing, which require you to pay a start-up and/or monthly fee to market their products. Most affiliate programs are completely free to join. I would personally stay away from those using their affiliate programs as an income generator, in its own right, or "affiliate sharks”, as one marketer aptly named them.

Affiliate programs are a great way that anyone can start to make money online, without having to invest a lot of money, if indeed any at all.

However, there are certain strategies and marketing methods you need to be knowledgeable of, if you are to make anything but peanuts with your affiliate marketing.

Choosing the right affiliate program, and promoting it to the right people in the right way is an art form in its own right. The people who are good at this, generally referred to as "super affiliates", make a very good living doing nothing else than selling other people's products.

If you are looking to make an additional income from the Internet, or eventually even replace your current income altogether, affiliates marketing is a great way to get started. To achieve the success you desire, you should study and learn the same techniques “super affiliates” use on a day-to-day basis.

Andreas Sundstrom has made a full time living online for the past six years, largely thanks to the power of free affiliate programs. At his website http://www.webhosting-tips.info/affiliate/ he will share some of the most important super affiliate secrets.

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By Mikhail Tuknov

For many casual internet users, the terms SEM and SEO rarely enter their minds when they are busy jumping from one website to another. However, these terms establish much of what comes out on the results page whenever we type a word in the search tab of any accessible search engine. These terms are also responsible for all those advertisements and pop-ups that link us to even more websites, whether they connect to our original search or not. So just what are SEM and SEO?

In the simplest way possible, SEM and SEO are tools which website creators, especially those who are promoting and selling a certain service or product, use to gain a lot of exposure and a better ranking for their website. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, the simplicity ends there.

To make it a tad bit complex, SEM and SEO are not the same.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM), deals with how a website markets to gain exposure in the different search engines available on the internet. Search Engine Optimization (SEO), deals with how the web creators develop and redevelop the content, quality, and structure of their entire websites. When an internet user types in a particular word in the search tab, their websites have a better chance of appearing on the first few search engine results pages (SERPS).

To make it even more complex, although the functions of SEM and SEO seem different, they are more effective when used together. Since the main function of SEM is to gain further exposure for a website, the common means for attraction are more online advertisements, blogs, internet articles, partner and sponsored websites, and anything that can catch the eye of the internet user.

SEM also makes use of PPC (pay-per-click), and paid inclusion to push a website’s visibility. Lastly, it is also an important process in SEM to submit the name and URL of a website to different search engines and web directories, if only to inform them of the website’s existence. This is carried out to ensure the popularity of a website.

So how does SEO come together with SEM? Despite having all the advertisements provided by SEM, truly the SEO allows the internet user to easily and conveniently find what he is looking for. Since the function of SEO is to gain a better ranking in the SERPS, the web creator has to constantly optimize his website in order to cater to the needs of the internet user; making it easier for spiders or web crawlers to judge whether the website’s content is relevant to the words being searched. Optimization is not a simple and easy task. It involves having to restructure the website regularly, (by editing the html code and meta tags, changing content, reorganizing the site map, developing an easier navigational structure, etc.), to adapt to the rapidly changing demands of the internet user. Still, when done properly, not only does SEO help a website become more useful and therefore, more often visited by the internet user, it also helps gain more exposure since it increases the website’s chances of gaining a better rank in the SERPS.

Both SEM and SEO success rely heavily on the words or context which Internet user’s type in when they search for something on the internet. Take PPC under SEM, for example. PPC is an ad that is triggered by a particular word or context used by an internet user. Once a particular word or context is searched, a corresponding PPC ad for a website comes out. SEO works in the same way. The web creator inputs a particular Meta tag (or keyword) in his html that he believes many internet users will use when searching for information; information, which the web creator’s website may contain.

Although all of these processes involving SEM and SEO are tedious and time-consuming, it all boils down to knowing and serving the target audience. A web creator must be discerning enough to know what the internet users need and want, and at the same time, he must have the real passion to inform and provide the internet users with the right service and product.

Mikhail Tuknov, search engine optimization specialist and a founder of Infatex (Search Engine Marketing Company). With an extensive background in Internet marketing, Mikhail Tuknov offers SEO, PPC, SEM services. http://www.infatex.com/

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By Carsten Cumbrowski

Why you should look into Pay Per Click Marketing if you are an Affiliate Marketing Newbie. Tips and tricks for beginners and why you should look beyond PPC to be successful in the long term.

If you are a newbie to Affiliate Marketing, I do recommend to look into Pay-Per-Click Advertising at the beginning, because it is still one of the more easy ways (or less difficult would probably be more true) to get started in this industry AND get fast results. Results referring to earning commission. No more and no less.

Using the PPC services of the big three US Search Engines, Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, Microsoft AdCenter, or services of "second tier" Search Engines like Miva, Kanoodle, Ask.com, or Looksmart is still not as complicated as most people believe. It will get harder as time progresses though. Nobody would argue this fact. Also bid prices will most likely continue to rise and not get back to what they were just a few years ago.

The "golden age" of PPC marketing might be over, but it is still much easier to earn some commissions with it compared to most other, older and more mature marketing strategies.

Take Search Engine Optimization for example. If you start a new site today, chances are you will not see very much, if any results for 3 to 6 months, assuming that you already know SEO, what is probably unlikely. "Trial and Error" is a concept that translates to years of trying and failing in SEO compared to hours, days or weeks for trying something new in Pay-Per-Click marketing.

It will not work without spending and loosing some money up-front, while you learn to get the basics straight. Set low spending limits for new test campaigns, if the feature is available. Wait a few days, spending only a little bit of money, and watch how it converts. If you make money, which is simple to find out, by subtracting the number of click, multiplied by the average cost per click, (= spending for the PPC Service) from the earned commissions. If the dollar amount is a positive amount, you made profit.

Do not go over board because of it, though. You can increase spending a bit, but I do not recommend going full force without a spending limit and buy every click you can get at this point. Wait at least until you have posted your first commission check successfully to your bank account. I would wait even two commission checks with a bit of increase in spending and hopefully commission each payment cycle.

Also loosing money on the first few campaigns should not discourage you and make you stop. See breaking even as a success and progress. It is not very likely, nor impossible, to make profits right from the start. If you do, good for you, If you don't, try to find out why. Once you did use the services, you will at least know how the process works and understand a lot more of discussions at forums, related articles, and tips from professionals. You will not, if you do not do anything and give up before you even started.

You should not just stop at PPC though and only rely on paid traffic to your site; especially, if you rely completely on direct or redirected traffic to the merchant where you are merely a proxy in the conversion process without the customer being aware of your existence at all. If you have a site or "Landing Page" the customer sees first, you will get the chance to do something with visitors that do not convert for the specific offer you are promoting via PPC Ad.

The visitor you paid for is on your site and not the merchants and you might be able to get him interested in something else. Merchants do that too and so can you. Be careful though. Don't create a conflict which could result in a "Lower Conversion Rate" of your "Landing Page" for the original offer. This "something else" should be a "Secondary Conversion Goal" for your Ad and landing page; not just for non-converting traffic, but also as "secondary goal" for the traffic that you actually convert for your "Primary Goal".

May be a similar offer to the one he showed obvious interest in; remember, he clicked the link from your paid Ad; but then decided not to follow through with it for whatever reason. Similar does not mean the same thing, but from another brand or merchant, but similar in topic. Don't offer another TV Set when you promote a TV Set. Offer a TV Program Guide or Magazine instead for example.

This goes beyond the topic of this article, but I wanted to provide you with some "Keywords" and "Terms" for further research. You should look into all the other opportunities and possibilities available for promotion of products and services as well, but with long-term goals in mind. Paid Search can help you financially while you get something more substantial going.

Paid search will only work long term if you really dig deep into this type of marketing and become an expert yourself. This requires many technical Health Fitness Articles, mathematical and analytical skills, and most people do not have them.

Carsten Cumbrowski is doing Affiliate Marketing since 2001and Search Marketing since 2003. He also operates the portal Cumbrowski.com, which provides free resources to paid search (http://www.cumbrowski.com/CarstenC/searchenginemarketing.asp), landing page optimization, keyword research (http://www.cumbrowski.com/CarstenC/seosem_keyword_research.asp) and much more that are vital to success for internet marketers.

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By Titus Hoskins

Here is my number one Internet Marketing Strategy for producing an online income. It is so simple it actually works! Discover how this one marketing technique can also help you succeed online and work from home...

I am often asked, "How does one start an Internet Income?"

"Where do you begin? What do you need to start?” In addition, these questions are often followed by, "How did you get started?” These questions are popping up more often now as my name and sites become better known. However, I still get some very skeptical looks whenever I mention I work full-time on the Internet. For many people the Net is still a place chock full of 'quick-rich-schemes' and 'con-artists', where someone is ready to rip you off at the very first opportunity.

Of course, the reality of working on the Internet could not be further removed from this unflattering image. In my case, I make it a point to only deal with top name companies such as Dell, Sony, Toshiba, Amazon, Apple, Google... or top web marketers with solid reputations such as Marlon Sanders, Neil Shearing, John Reese, Ken Evoy...

In addition, I quickly learned Money Talks! It does not matter who you are, where you are operating from or how small or big your online sites/activities are, if you can generate through your online marketing efforts monthly sales in the 100-200k range for any company - you will be noticed. And your sales don't have to be in that price range, if you can generate any sales through your web site or sites, you can start to build a business online and work from home.

I come from a background in art and education but nothing compares to working on the web from the comfort of your own home. The freedom is very liberating. Once you start earning a nice income here, there is no going back. Money talks in many ways! However, how do you get started? How do you begin? I believe my own very modest success comes from one simple strategy. It has to do with learning, more importantly; it has to do with HOW we learn.

One key strategy I have learned and it is quite simple: always learn from the inside. Get as close to the source as you possibly can. No matter the field or subject area, get as close to the real experts in that field as you can possibly get. It is something all artists do instinctively! This very simple strategy has proven to be very effective for me. There is no reason why it cannot also work for you.

Here is how it is done: instead of buying the latest marketer's info product/ebook/webcourse... you join their affiliate program first! You will receive marketing information, countless free audios/training materials on this marketer's products and methods. You will get the inside information on how these marketers operate and how they are working the Internet.

You will also probably receive great discounts for any products that you do buy. You will receive updates, invitations to web seminars, free promotional material, if you are well known, or are a valuable affiliate, you will receive free copies or products to review.

What is even nicer, once you start generating sales, this affiliate relationship often develops into a personal relationship with the owner or company. You get to know the owner or the affiliate manager on a personal level and this opens many doors for other business opportunities.

This simple strategy works great. I apply it almost every day in my own marketing and even in my own life. For example, around each New Year, everyone is talking about making resolutions and setting goals, both for their businesses and in their personal lives. It is an important topic. I wanted to learn more.

As I make it a point to seek out the top person or person in any field, I wish to learn about (in this case) goals or goal setting. The name that immediately came to mind was Gary Ryan Blair. He is known as the GoalGuy! What more can you ask for? Gary Blair has made goals his business.

He also has an excellent affiliate program, which you or anyone can join. In addition, by joining Gary Blair's affiliate program, you will receive valuable information on goal setting and strategic planning from the inside, if you really want to learn about Internet Marketing, how to build websites, how to earn money from the web... just find the Top Guy in that field.

My suggestion for the top person is Ken Evoy.

Ken Evoy, of SiteBuildIt and Make Your Site Sell fame, is the perfect person for learning about the whole web marketing game. One of the best ways to learn what Ken knows is to join his affiliate program first! You get tons of free marketing info and products. You will learn how his system works. You will also learn how Internet Marketing really works.

Perhaps the main reason I chose SBI is its great online community. If you want to succeed at something, you must 'hang-out' with people who are succeeding in that particular field. Might sound a bit simplistic but there is more truth in this philosophy than most people realize.

If you want to be a jackass, associate with other jackasses! If you want to be a millionaire, associate with other millionaires! If you want to be an Internet marketer, you must associate with other Internet marketers! It is kind of a no-brainer but many people do not do this. I repeat, if you want to be a web marketer Article Submission, you hangout with web marketers and learn from the inside.

A simple Internet marketing strategy works, one that has served me well as I continue to build my online business. This can also work for you.

The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous niche websites, including two sites on Internet marketing. For the latest and most effective web marketing tools try: www.marketingtoolguide.com For the latest Internet Marketing Strategies go here: www.bizwaremagic.com 2007 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

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By Don Luttrull

If you are involved in an mlm or network marketing business, you have tried to find the best ways, online as well as offline, to get qualified people to your website or to the company’s website. There are many different ways to find qualified people who are actually looking to start a home based business.

You need to realize that most people who are looking for a home based business are not aware of what they are looking for and are simply gathering information. These types of people are the non-targeted leads you find being sold by countless mlm lead companies online.

These types of mlm leads have a terrible conversion rate. This puts your excited mood into one that causes you to start second-guessing yourself and the opportunity you are marketing. Quality mlm leads from an actual mlm leads company with proven results is what you need to build a successful mlm business, and to have the right mindset.

If you were to compare mlm lead companies, odds are you would start with your sponsor or up-line in the business you are currently marketing. This method is not effective to use. The result is your upline is simply trying to get a commission or a bonus off you by sending them to one of the low converting mlm lead companies.

You may take the above statement as being rude or labeling all sponsors, but in all honesty, most people in mlm and network marketing companies are following the same pack of people barely making any real income. You need to set yourself apart from the pack and become a leader in your company.

If a company sponsor is trying to teach you the correct methods to building your business but have not seen any real success himself or herself, then you need to find a new method in which to build your business. Mlm is mainly duplication of a proven method. If your sponsor is not seeing the large monthly income, then I personally would not try to duplicate their methods.

With all the many different ways to get mlm leads, which are done with pay per click accounts and even door-to-door methods, one truly proven method has the highest conversion ratio as long as it is done correctly.

You need to find an mlm lead company that has proven results and offers you a residual income that will pay for your leads as your downline signs up under you, for their leads also. There are a small handful of mlm lead companies worth comparing and sometimes they can be hard to sift through. Mlm lead companies are selling leads that have sold 1,000 times and will not convert for nothing.

If you are looking to build a solid mlm business, you should research and compare mlm lead companies. You need to look for a company that allows you to buy at minimum, 72-hour fresh leads. Along with being extremely fresh, you also need to find an mlm lead company that offers a monthly residual income plan. Having a matrix payout plan attached to a solid mlm lead company can end up paying out more then your mlm company is paying you.

Remember when researching and checking the many mlm lead companies out there, you will usually get what you pay for. Any company offering you 1,000 fresh leads a day for $20 is nothing but a fraud style company and will end up giving you a very bad name in the mlm community. Find a company that is successful and has mlm leads that are actually converting into real mlm sign ups and sales.

Don Luttrull runs a MLM lead comparison site. MLM and Network Marketers vote on which mlm leads company has the best conversion ratios and those companies are then ranked. To see who they have voted for go here http://www.comparemlmleads.com.

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By Robert Wilkinson

If there were one thing to make direct mail a reliable method to drum up new business, it would have to be the ability to test different versions of a pack to achieve a better return on investment. Having processed many mailings over the years, I can attest that clients rarely take full advantage of this feature. In fact, more often than not, clients do not test at all.

Not testing is commercial suicide! In today's competitive climate, if anything can be done to reduce the cost to acquire a customer, then it must be done. It is a no brainer. Research shows that in times of depression, those who continue to advertise are those that do well. It also shows those who continue to advertise also make the efforts to stretch their budget even further.

You decrease your direct mail costs by applying a little commonsense and by testing which will produce the best response. We will look at the example of a direct mail pack that comprises five parts in all.

The parts of the pack are as follows:

1) Envelope
2) Personalized Letter
3) Brochure
4) Leaflet/Order form
5) Business Reply Envelope

Looking at this, you would think that this is it, but we have forgotten the most important part of all:

6) The Data

Now there is enough here to get your message out.

Experience shows the most important part of the mailing is the data. We must test this part. A badly produced but well targeted letter will almost certainly produce a better return than a well-written badly targeted letter.

You may have a particular target audience already decided, for example, lawyers. You will be able to get lists of lawyers from more than one source to be tested. Equally, you will have the option of mailing to a named individual, or to a job title, so you can test that way, also. So far, that is at least four permutations, provided you use two data suppliers. It would be six if you used three suppliers. If you had not narrowed your field to one sector, then the choice of tests to run could be massively increased, but it is not practical to take it to the extreme.

Targeting is everything! You must get that right, and you can only find that out if you test.

Looking at the envelope, you have a huge number of choices available, also. You can send plain with a stamp, or printed with a message. You could make the material from an unusual paper, print in full color, or use different sizes. You could print different designs, or use different taglines and the like.

Depending on how your envelope is made, you may be able to run multiple designs for a minimal charge. The nature of some jobs is they are printed two or three on a sheet, so you will be able to produce equal quantities of more than one design. Even if it is not free, chances are it will not be that expensive for a plate change.

For the letterhead, you can change the material. Studies by paper merchants have shown a 20% increase in response just by changing to a textured paper. The copy itself on the letter can be changed, and offers can be changed. The number of options to test here is almost limitless.

Moving on to the leaflet, the same applies here as indicated for the letterhead. Copy, material, imagery; they are all fair game.

Finally, yet importantly, we move on to the BRE (business reply envelope). The choices here are limited. White or manila envelopes, perhaps, maybe even a coloured BRE. If it is not going to cost a lot, why not try it.

Using these methods over time, you can increase the effectiveness of your mailings. Always test, even when you think you have the perfect pack, continue to run a test campaign against it, even if the difference between the two is really quite small. If you continue to do this, your costs to acquire a customer should decrease and diminish.
Overall, the point is that there is an almost infinitely large and almost limitless opportunity for testing. Maybe, it is this huge scope for testing that puts people off, but I do not think it is. I think it is just a lack of awareness of what you can do. You do not need to complicate things; you can just run two packs with one difference between them and see how it goes.

Whatever you do though, do not commit commercial suicide and fail to test.

Robert Wilkinson is the owner of http://www.arhiann.com, a print, design, and direct mail business specializing in direct mail and envelope production for small and medium sized businesses.

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By Michael Moshkovich

These are tips on what to avoid during the developing stages of your internet marketing business to give yourself the best chance at success.

You need to know several things before building a business in internet marketing. More important, several aspects need avoided when building an internet marketing business. Avoid overuse of keywords, and waiting to advertise your website. It can be detrimental toward the success of your internet marketing business.

All over the internet, search engine optimization and keyword optimization are one of the most important parts to internet marketing. What people do not realize is, this does not mean put your targeted keywords in every line of content. Overusing your keywords throughout your content makes it difficult to follow along with what you are saying. You have to learn to create a balance between the two extremes of not enough use and too much use of keywords.

Keywords are a vital part to the content you distribute in your internet marketing business. The content itself will either draw in readers or push them away. When you begin writing your content, it is easy to get off the subject and begin writing about nonsense. However, it is crucial you provide quality content related to your websites overall theme.

Aside from the content on your website, the information you provide in your emails and other internet marketing schemes is crucial to generating more sales. Because your internet marketing business is new, the logical thing to do is make your point clear and concise. Sometimes clear and concise is too long. It is difficult to learn when you first start out, but you will quickly realize the best email messages get your point across in a short message.

The last thing that is oh too common with newbies is waiting to begin marketing your website until it is more developed. The problem is you are wasting time to begin generating potential sales. Your website constantly needs developing, because in internet marketing, the best way to stay on top is to constantly be evolving and adding new content.

On top of the potential profit you could be missing, you have no idea whether your hard work is what the public is looking for until you give them a chance to look at it. The best way to build a people-friendly website is to get feedback and criticism, because this allows you to learn from your mistakes and build off what people are telling you.

Although you do want to put a lot of research into how you can build a promising internet marketing business, what not to do should be of equal importance to you. While there are several things you need to avoid, Business Management Articles, these are some of the worst mistakes you can make in the internet marketing business.

Michael Moshkovich is a web developer and internet marketer who has written over 50 articles on SEO, shopping cart software and PPC marketing. To find out more information about WebCart visit us here (http://www.webcart.net/). For eCommerce marketing tips, visit the WebCart Blog (http://www.webcart.net/shoppingcartsoftware).

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By Steve Renner

A fast way to become successful is to Model Success. Find the person who you would like to be like and copy them. This is a secret to Internet Marketing Excellence.

I am on many mailing lists, and like to keep track of what is happening in the Internet Marketing scene. This keeps me in tune with what is going on.

The older, more experienced Marketers are teaching new people the business with their special Coaching and Mentoring Programs.

As part of their Coaching service, they will help these new marketers break into the business, by promoting them to their list. There is nothing wrong with this, and it is actually a great thing. This is how most of the great marketers get started.

Problem is, it seems more and more people who graduate from these Coaching Programs are getting into the business. They want to start giving their Marketing Advice.

One thing I can tell you is this, in the Internet Marketing world there is an incredible amount of different information floating around. It can be overwhelming. This is called Information Overload, and it happens to everyone.

Another problem is you do not always know if the information you are getting is reliable or not. Is this something someone has learned from someone else? Are they now passing themselves off as an expert? Is this coming from someone that has really done it?

It is essential you know the person from whom you are receiving the information.

A good marketer is always looking to learn new things, and looking to learn from someone. If you find just one golden nugget of information, it can make you a fortune in your business.

That's why it is critical that when you are looking to learn from someone, look for a person who is out there actively Marketing, someone who is actually in the trenches doing it on a daily basis.

If they are just learning as you are, then this is not the source example to follow.

Look for someone who has been in the business for a while and has a good track record of success.

This person can become your Mentor. When you find someone that you look up to and want to be like, then just look at what they are doing and copy them.

This is the easiest way to be successful in your business, Model Success! If it is working for them, Business Management Articles, then it can work for you too.

This is a Secret to Internet Marketing Excellence!

Steve Renner has been marketing online since 1998. He is the Director of Training and Marketing for The Affiliate Community, an Online Training and Resource Site for Affiliate Marketers of all Levels.He is a pioneer in the development of Hybrid Marketing and is an Expert in Internet Marketing and Marketing Affiliate. http://www.affiliatecommunity.netGet over $1,000 in Training and Resources FREE!

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By Mal Keenan

What Mistakes are you Making that are Seriously Hampering your Affiliate Marketing Business? Find out How to Avoid Profit Crushing Errors...

My main aim as an affiliate marketer is to get the most profit out of the market I am promoting. Over the years through trial and error, I have perfected what I believe to be three of the most important strategies for gaining nice profits from whichever internet market you decide to enter.

So, let us get started...

Strategy Number One - You should absolutely set up a website for your affiliate products. Sure, every product will come with its own affiliate page, customized with your unique affiliate links, but smart marketers know that this is not enough. It is very important you set up your own website for your affiliate products. This includes registering your domain and hosting, plus creating or paying for a simple web design - complete with the affiliate images that most affiliate programs provide.

Setting up a website may seem like too much hard work but believe me; it pays off in terms of future profits, if you put in the initial effort.

It also pays to create a different page within your website for each affiliate product or service. You could write an article or review page highlighting the benefits of using your recommended service with a link to your unique affiliate page.

Setting up a blog geared towards your affiliate market is the perfect way to implement the above strategy.

Strategy Number Two - Next on my list of essential strategies is to place an opting form on your website offering a free report outlining the benefits of your service. The majority of sales are between the fifth and twelfth contact between you and your prospect.

If a prospect visits your site and then clicks off never to return, you have missed many more opportunities to close the sale. This is where the opt-in form comes in. If you manage to entice website visitors to offer their email address, then you can follow up via an email autoresponder as often as you like or until the prospect unsubscribes from your list.

Short 7-day reports are quite effective and if you provide useful information, you may have a customer for life. Capturing a prospects email address is one of the most important tasks in affiliate marketing and internet marketing as a whole.

Strategy Number Three - Drive TARGETED traffic to your site. No point in paying to send general website visitors to a site built around the topic of "Exotic Birds". If you are sending visitors to an "Internet Marketing" site, it is pointless to write and submit articles on "Travel in Italy". Do you get the point? It is essential that you target your visitors to your affiliate-marketing niche, if you are going to close the sale. This point may seem obvious to some Article Submission, but many IM newbies spend countless hours and dollars focusing on website traffic that is simply not interested in what they have to offer.

The three strategies above are extremely effective and even more so in a tight niche market. If you employ the advice, you are well on your way to becoming a successful affiliate marketer.

Mal Keenan is publisher of Home Business Tips Newsletter. Check it out for tips on how to get Started Earning a Full-time Income from Home: Free home based business income opportunities Newsletter (http://www.home-business-tips-newsletter.com/). To Find Out What Was My Greatest Lucky Break in My Six Years of Frustration check out: Starting home based internet business (http://www.freeadvertz.com/).

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By Jeff Smith

Packaging your own ebook, report, audio package, course, or manual to sell online is within everyone's reach and ability. Turn the knowledge, experience, and information you already have into your own information product. You can quickly be piloting your very own online business keeping 90% of the profits.

Building your own business around what you already know or have experienced is one of the easiest, fastest, and most proven methods of escaping the job market in search of your own profit- producing home-based business.

You may not believe it, but you already have a pot-of-gold within your reach right now - sitting, waiting to turn into products you can sell online.

By packing your knowledge, experiences and stories into digital ebooks, booklets, or even your own course or workshop, you have the foundation for a very profitable small venture.

What have you done or experienced in your life that has demanded you study, research, explore, or learn by working through it? What changes have you gone through that have made you stronger, and what challenges have you faced that have taught you what only someone who has been through your experience would know? At first, examples may not come flooding into your head, but think a little longer, and you should be able to come up with dozens.

SOME BRAIN TRIGGERS

Let us go back in time, at least for many of us to the time you came out of school and began your work life. What did you learn? What challenges did you have? Do you remember taking personality tests, working with counselors to help you find your aptitude? How can you research different kinds of careers to find a match? How easy was that experience? In my case, I had fully expected to work through a law degree after University and become a lawyer. I recall working with our career counselors - even in high school, who had some neat methods of discovering strengths.

Next, I remember having a very challenging time trying to understand, first-hand, what it meant to work as a lawyer - to even meet and talk with other lawyers in the field.

What could I learn from this? Moving from school to the workforce is a crucial time in a woman or man's life. Everyone wants you to succeed, many people want to help - but there are frustratingly few resources to help you.

Could you package some research on personality and aptitude testing with a range of first-hand profiles about many common careers? You could solicit a few pages from several career choices to give an "insider's" approach to particular fields of work.

How about other experiences you went through:

- Marriage advice: including whom to marry, advice on relationships leading up to marriage, how to organize your wedding, handling budget and family issues with weddings, etc...

- Raising children, you cannot tell me you did not learn a great deal for those of you who have raised children

- Changing careers or advancing in your career. It seems we all go through many life lessons as we work through career advancement. If you look back, what advice could you provide that would help make better career choices, if you had to do it again?

- How about health. Were you able to try to find methods of stress relief, ways to reduce pain or suffering from illness, methods of losing weight, or increasing overall fitness? You may think this field is highly competitive, and it is, but there is always room for added tips and strategies based on real experience

- Travel, do you have some hints or tips on traveling?

There are dozens upon dozens of examples where you can take life experiences and the research or knowledge you already have to launch your own information product publishing business.

You may begin slowly with a report, 40-page ebook, blog, newsletter, or you may jump right into seminars, workshops, and a manuscript for a published book.

However you choose to start, you will find you can build your knowledge into a hot business with some determination, persistence, and an action-oriented attitude.

TWO IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

Does this excite you, the prospect that you have the basis of your own information publishing business within you right now? Most people do not even realize the value of the information they already have, thereby dismissing themselves as a legitimate information publisher.

That is too bad, because the financial and lifestyle rewards of operating your own info-publishing business are many.

So, when you consider your life experiences and hobbies, ask yourself these two very important questions:

1. Are there others going through the same experience or situation?

2. Would your information help them increase their pleasure or reduce their pain with this experience?

You do not have to have all the answers, only enough to improve the situation of others who will follow you through some of these life experiences.

Even the greatest books, courses, or workshops do not tell you everything about a given subject or even give you all of the answers to a given question.

By packaging your knowledge, experiences, tips, and techniques into your own information product (ebook, book, booklet, audio, or video) toward solving a specific problem for your market you will have improved your customer's life.

Discover How To Package Information For Profits in Jeff Smith's blockbuster "Ultimate Information Entrepreneur's Success Package (http://www.infoproductcreator.com/). Find out the exact techniques to use for developing "magnetic" ideas that attract customers to your products like crazy!

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By Alicia Forest

Leverage the page your website visitors see after they sign up for your list or make a purchase. This article shares four ways to utilize this space to increase your marketing and sales without having to do more work.

I have a question for you: When people sign up to receive your ezine or other Free Taste of what it is you are offering, where do they end up? Do they see a polite thank you page from you? Do they see the default confirmation page from your list service? Do they see nothing? Are left wondering if the registration went through? People who are signing up for your list expect to see a page afterwards as a normal part of the transaction. On that page, it is important to thank them for signing up and make them feel good about their decision. Also, if you are using a double opt-in for your list, let them know they need to confirm their subscription before they will receive the information they requested from you.

There is more you can do with this page, so why not leverage it? Here are a few ideas on how to accomplish this:

1. Add, Tell-A-Friend. Most people are happy to refer you to someone else they know who might benefit from what you are offering, if you will just ask them.

You can do this easily by simply asking them to point others to your sign-up page, or by using a simple referral software program, like TAFPro, which creates a simple form to fill in with a name and email address of the person whom they are referring. Once they hit send, an email goes directly to the recipient and a copy comes to you. This is a great way to add new subscribers to your list without you having to do more work.

2. Make another offer. The best time to make an offer to someone is when interacting with you. Someone who just signed up to receive information from you is likely to be interested in something else you have to offer. Use this page to make an offer on one of your lower ticket items in your funnel. By doing so, you will gain sales you would not otherwise.

3. Ask a question. This is a prime time to gather a little market research from your readers. Ask a simple question, like "What's your biggest challenge with X?" (X represents your niche, what it is that you are offering). Add an email link where they can send their answer, and then use this information as you continue to develop offerings for your target market.

Doing this also helps in starting to build a relationship with your readers, and it keeps you up-to-date as to what they are struggling with right now so you can offer the solutions they want.

4. Refer them elsewhere. Hook up with a colleague to start trading some thank you page traffic. On your thank you page, say something like, "I know you'll also benefit from (name of ezine), published by (name of publisher)." Then give them instructions on how to sign up. Your colleague would do the same for you on their thank you page.

I implement all four of these strategies on various thank you pages, which are helping me build a stronger relationship with my readers, find out what it is that they want my help with, build my list faster and easier, (while helping a handful of colleagues build theirs), and make more sales by making more offers.

I encourage you to leverage your thank you pages this way in your own business. Making them work double-duty for you will absolutely create the same results for you that I'm enjoying, Computer Technology Articles, so pick one and start working it today.

Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & Coach™ and creator of "21 Easy & Essential Steps to Online Success System™, teaches coaches, consultants, and other solo professionals and online entrepreneurs how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create abundance in your business, visit http://www.clientabundance.com/.

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By Alicia Forest

Did you know almost every person who visits your website would leave without buying? However, there are things you can do to get the most from your website visitors that can make a big difference in your bottom line. I share four of them in this article.

Did you know almost every person who visits your website would leave without buying? I know that sounds disheartening, but it is true. Just think of all the sites you have been on yourself and you have not bought from, right? However, do not be discouraged. There are things you can do to get the most from your website visitors, which can make a big difference in your bottom line. Here are four of them:

1. Use Pop-Ups...or use pop-unders…or use pop-up-tomorrow, or use whatever latest 'pop' technology is available today. Yes, they do annoy some people, but internet marketing stats tell us that they work. In addition, the one that works the best is the "exit pop", those ones that say, "wait! before you leave... take advantage of this...”

If you do decide to use pop-ups, use them sparingly so as not to annoy your visitor. You can also use pop-ups to implement any of the following strategies:

2. Invite them to be on your list...

Most people will not buy from you on the first pass. You need to build a relationship with your prospects in order for them to feel comfortable investing any of their hard-earned cash with you.

Give them an opportunity to join your list so you can build that relationship. Invite them to receive a free taste of what it is that you are offering - ezine, special report, checklist - so they get on your list. You then have the opportunity to market to them over time, which will build that relationship which will lead to more sales.

3. Find out why they are leaving...

Ask them why they are leaving your site. Not everyone will tell you, but the feedback you do receive is gold. You can then make any appropriate adjustments to your website to increase your sales and opt-in conversion rates.

4. Make another offer...

If they did not purchase on the first pass, make them another offer. Offer them another product or program of yours that's at a lower price point, or send them to someone else's site whose offering might benefit them instead, preferable one of which you highly recommend and are an affiliate of so you can earn a small commission for your referral.

Pick one of the aboveFree Web Content, test it, and see how it works for you. You are sure to increase your list numbers and your sales numbers if you start implementing even one of these strategies today.

Copyright 2007 Alicia M Forest and Client Abundance

Alicia M Forest, MBA, Multiple Streams Queen & Coach™ and creator of "21 Easy & Essential Steps to Online Success System™, teaches coaches, consultants, and other solo professionals and online entrepreneurs how to attract more clients, create profit-making products and services, make more sales, and ultimately live the life they desire and deserve. For FREE tips on how to create abundance in your business, visit http://www.clientabundance.com/.

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By Stephen Joyce

Many retail business owners feel pressure to set up shop online. However, is this realistic expectation or is it an exercise in futility. Some very important key questions need answered before considering the move to online sales.

1. Are your products conducive to mail, phone, or online sales? You think every product will sell online, to some degree, you would be correct. Should you sell every product online? The answer is no. Many products do not sell well online because they are not conducive to impulse purchases, the demand is low, or the product itself has a long sales cycle. Most people will make purchases online using a credit card, having a limit of $1,000 to $5,000, so that the products or combinations of products are easy to purchase.

2. Are you prepared to sell your products online? This may seem very basic, but it will validate your motivation to succeed online. If your motivation to sell online is driven by a belief that "everyone else is doing it and so should I”, then you should seriously consider the implications of selling online. Once you have made the mental decision to sell online, you can begin to formulate your strategy for doing so.

3. Do you have the resources to sell online? Are you prepared to handle five, ten, a hundred, five hundred orders a day? Do you have the staff to fulfill orders, manage online customer service, and make updates to the website? Do you plan to do this work yourself? If so, have you considered the impact this decision will have on the rest of your business? Create a plan that sets definitive goals for your online storefront, as you would for any business opportunity. Remember, managing a successful e-commerce website is a full-time job.

4. Who will build your site? One of the biggest myths about e-commerce is that anybody can build and run an online store. The truth of the matter is that anyone can build and run a store online, but only a select few can do it well. There are many online store builders, shopping cart programs, and hosted applications that let you build a site and start selling your products online, but realistically you get what you pay for with most of these services. Consider hiring a company who specializes in developing online commerce sites for you. The result will be superior to a homegrown site and will ultimately result in increased credibility and sales.

5. What is your budget? Get quotes from a variety of vendors. You will find that the quotes you get back will range from a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars. A reasonable amount to budget for your new website is around $10,000 for a full build out including custom web design and software, and ongoing server and maintenance fees of about $300 to $500 per month. When you consider your budget, take into account that the more you spend upfront, the less likely you will be to change the site. On the Internet, keeping your website fresh and updated is crucial to your credibility.

Now that you have answered the fundamentals, you will want to ensure you take the following steps to get your online store set-up correctly and efficiently:

1. Set-up an Internet Merchant Account This is necessary. You may be tempted to use PayPal, 2Checkout, or some other low cost online payment solution, however, in the end, when your site becomes popular and you start generating significant revenue, you will find that the discount rate you pay with a true merchant account will be much less. Although there is a little more work involved in setting up an Internet capable merchant account, your credibility, not to mention your payment tracking, are simplified.

2. Purchase a Secure Certificate. This is also necessary. Securing your site is mandatory in order to avoid possible issues with credit card theft. All merchant account providers will require you have a secure certificate installed on your server before they issue you the account. Secure certificates range in cost from around $80 CAD to $500 CAD depending on the level of security and authentication you require. For the most part, a basic certificate is all that is required for online sales.

3. Organize your product data. When you have your product data organized in a spreadsheet, it will go a long way to speeding up the set-up of your store. It will also help you organize your store layout and determine what products will sell best online.

4. Take good product photos. Since your online customers will not be able to hold or touch your products, a good photo is your next best option. Your photographs should be bright, with good contrast, and show the product either alone or in combination with complimentary products. For example, when selling a pair of jeans, take a photo of a person (preferably someone who looks attractive in the jeans) actually wearing the jeans. Have the person wear other complimentary products from your store like a popular shirt, shoes, and a purse. Customers will be more inclined to buy the jeans if they can see the jeans in context with other products.

5. Set-up a newsletter. Permission based newsletters are an excellent way to keep your customers coming back to your store. Sending a monthly newsletter that highlights new products, sales, or promotions can be a great way to retain and attract new customers.

6. Visit stores that you like and make notes. Do your research. Look at the sites that are at the top of their game and find out what they do. How are their products displayed? How does their shopping cart work? How often do they update their site? The more information you can provide to your web designer and developer, the closer they will come to meeting your expectations.

In summary, do not rush into anything. Like all good things, a high quality revenue-generating website takes time, money and effort to build. There is nothing wrong with starting small Article Submission, but remember to re-invest in your online store. Make improvements whenever you can and keep it fresh. The days of "build it and they will come" have long been over. Talk to a marketing expert and plan your strategy accordingly.

Stephen Joyce is President of Sentias Software Corp, a software development company based in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Sentias develops the Booking Server, a sophisticated hosted tour product management and distribution system. For more information about the Sentias Booking Server, please visit http://www.sentias-booking-server.com.

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By Elias Georgi

Maybe you have just retired or perhaps you been laid off from your company. Now you have lots of time to pursue other activities and you are wondering if you should look for another job or try to develop something at home. Many people have difficulty coming up with ideas to work at home, and there are thousands of ideas to choose.

We cover a few approaches you can try in this article.

Anyone who has just retired or been laid off goes through a transition of emotions which can include shock at not having somewhere to go in the morning, to boredom, to significant concern about how they are going to pay the bills for themselves and their families. If you have decided to look for a job, there are specific approaches people use to find work, which include developing a resume, sorting through job openings, and most important, networking to let people know they are available, as well as, hear about openings that may be available.

Use these same skills and approaches in the quest for finding ideas to work from home. Although you will not need to have a resume, it is still important to develop an inventory of your skills, which you can use to assess any idea that you may consider. It is also useful to assist in deciding what additional skills you may need to make your work at home endeavor successful.

Networking with people who are already in the work at home area is very useful. You will obtain ideas, and pick up many useful hints and tips that may assist you in developing and starting a work from home business. Networking with people in person, and online, can be equally important. However, in both cases take care to protect your privacy and find legitimate ideas. There are many scams on the Internet. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is so consider each one carefully.

Successful entrepreneurs in every field usually start by asking what problem my solution will solve for the customer. Many people are willing to spend their money on solutions that solve problems for them and your trick is to find the one that does this for a large number of people. The key acid test for considering any work at home business idea is to ask yourself Science Articles, what problem I solve for my customer and how much is it worth to him.

Lastly, carry pen and paper with you at all times and jot down ideas as they come to you for consideration later. Sometimes the most amazing ideas will come to you as you are sitting enjoying coffee in your local coffee shop.

Elias Georgi is an experienced and successful sponsor, mentor and coach for many thriving, tested and proven home businesses. Elias offers proven Internet opportunities and strategies. Visit his Website: work at home business opportunities (http://www.eliasg.com/), he also runs the article directory (http://www.exclusive-article.com/).

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by Michael Moshkovich

One strategy that works, if you work at it, is forum marketing. Here is an internet marketing strategy you can work at to help you earn money on the internet.

Perhaps you have heard of the KISS method for doing Internet marketing; “Keep It Simple Stupid”. Internet marketing does not require you to be a rocket scientist, but it does require you to work. Here is an Internet marketing strategy you can work at to help you earn money on the internet.

When it comes to Internet marketing, think about the market you are targeting. These people can use the product that you sell. One strategy that works, if you work at it, is forum marketing. An Internet forum is an on-line discussion group where people exchange ideas about a common interest. There are thousands of discussion forums on the Internet on every imaginable topic

The Internet strategy you a