Copyright 2005 Woon Sung Liang (John Woon)
If you are new to online business, like I used to be, the fastest way to start your Internet online business is by becoming an affiliate to sell some one else's products because it allows you to make money from your website visitors without having to worry about shipping and payment processing.
The products from the affiliate owners are usually information products such as electronic books (eBook) and software that can be delivered as a file that is then downloaded directly to your customers' computers. They could be repeatedly reproduced and downloaded and sold at no cost. There's no packing, shipping and delivery cost.
The question you've to ask yourself is how can you determine which of the thousands of affiliate programs available in the Internet is suitable?
Many beginners encountered disappointment and frustration after signing up with some affiliate programs only to find out later that they eventually end up having brought in very little money if any, after wasting a lot of time and effort.
Hence the choice of affiliate programs is of utmost importance.
The most important criteria you should look for are:
1) They must offer products that the market is asking for or that are already in demand i.e. the low hanging fruit type of products, rather than creating new ideas hoping that the consumers would be convinced to buy.
2) The affiliate program must offer good commission to their affiliates. Although different people define "good" differently, generally if it could bringin about
$ 500/month as a start, it would be something worth looking into. As mentioned, affiliate programs offer high commission for their information products such as e-books and software. The owners of these affiliate programs can afford to give large commissions (50% or more) because of low cost of "production".
3) It must be easy to set up with step by step easy to follow instruction. And the website should be simple and yet attractive.
4) They should provide you with banners, images, links, sample ads and articles and emails to help you promote their products. Besides, they should also have a good support system for helping you with any problems you might have.
Do not be satisfied only by the above mentioned points. You should conduct further research to check on the background of the organisations behind the products, their quality, reliability and reputation. Wherever applicable, testimonials must be obtained and verified.
Study the affiliate agreement and assess the organisations you're dealing with. Check their quality of service by sending them an email or calling them to see how quickly and how effectively they respond - or if they ever respond at all. Assess their affiliate products. If you yourself are not convinced by the quality and effectiveness of the products, drop it and move on to another program.
There are sites which review, compare and recommend some great affiliate programs. You should be able to find some programs with the right categories of products to sell.
Like most search engines, visitors love content of our websites. Content is one of the most important aspects of attracting potential prospects to your web sites and prompting them to become customers based on the "AIDA" logic i.e. Attention, Intention, Desire and Action.
As far as possible, choose affiliate programs which relate to what you are already doing, and then promote those products.
Join relevant online discussion forums and seek information and advice from those who are already successful being an affiliate.
Once you've decided, draft a simple business plan, set target of your goals, budget your expenditure, follow the instructions given, be fully committed and go for it!
See you in the Web. Start taking your first step tonight in your pyjamas! Good luck!
About The Author: John Woon (Sung-Liang Woon) is a latex consultant with about 30 years of experience. He has also ventured into Internet business.
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Give Them Something Useful - A Small Business Marketing Tip
Copyright 2005 Marketing Comet
Naturally my wife wanted a new Burberry purse when my father in law asked her what she wanted him to pick up in Europe. She's all about purses. He bought her a beautiful purse in Rome and sent it to her when he got back in the States.
Along with the bag, there was a card-stock envelope containing the receipt and something very interesting - a map of Rome. It was one of those little tourist maps and it had all the Burberry stores in Rome marked off so you could find them.
Absolutely brilliant. First the map is useful, a great marketing tool is something people will keep around. This is why magazine advertising is so effective. It's also something you might pass on to people you know who are traveling to Rome - and now they'll know where to get a nice purse just like yours. Also, while you are in Rome you might just decide to pick up a second purse for Aunt Clara and now you can find your way back to a shop.
Companies of all sizes have used giveaways in marketing forever. Gillette had the brilliant idea of giving razors away, and then charging for disposable blades which you had to throw away frequently. Cracker Jacks are known for the toy surprise inside. Food vendors give away free samples to get you to buy more.
The psychological urge to reciprocate when somebody gives us something is so strong that Cialdini wrote about it in his seminal book on Influence. That urge is stronger the more valuable the giveaway. Reciprocity is not the only factor that can make giveaways useful small business marketing tools.
Some of the features of great giveaways:
-They are tools or information that customers will use repeatedly
-They have a positive emotional component
-They can be passed along to others building the marketing effect
-The benefit of the giveaway is overt
-The giveaway builds a strong mental link to your business
-The giveaway helps the customer buy from you.
I personally believe that well-tailored informational products are probably the best giveaway ever. Kraft foods sends out a free monthly magazine full of recipes (all using Kraft foods). That giveaway has all of the above features. So does the tourist map of Rome.
If you're in business in 2005 you need to take small business Internet marketing very seriously. The Internet is a great medium for giving away information products. If you run a lawn care business, maybe you have a printable planting calendar on your web site. If you own a restaurant near a theater district, maybe you publish a calendar of upcoming shows with your phone number for pre-theater reservations.
I love to go to conventions and walk the floor with a bag picking up tons of free stuff. Honestly, most of it goes right in the trash. I keep pens and other useful stuff, but who has time to look through 500 company brochures? While they are cute, wacky toys and stress relief pillows just clutter up my office. That stuff is very expensive, and I think the marketing value is very small.
This year I went to the Boston wine expo - two days of drinking wine! Some pear grower's association was there giving out samples of pears. Their giveaway was a cardboard wheel that you could use to match a varieties of pears with a types of wine and types of cheeses. This is particularly useful if you are a chef looking for ways to put a menu together.
My friend who owns a car repair shop is pricing out travel mugs. This is a pretty good giveaway. Ideally, when people have car trouble they'll have their coffee with his phone number on it in front of them.
What can you give away that is useful? It may just be information in a form that costs you nothing, or it might be a something you budget for. Remember the list of features when you look at your giveaways.
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J D Moore - Marketing Comet
http://www.marketingcometcoach.com
Get More Profits From Your Small Business Marketing
The Ten Commandments of Search Engine Optimization
Most of the time when we pitch to a new client we are asked for SEO guarantees. "Your competition has guaranteed top results and submission to 100,000 Search Engines and Directories". We go all out educating clients that Search Engine Optimization is all about smart work and not just adding random keywords and submitting to every directory possible. I'm writing this article to reach out to the SEO buyers and help them distinguish the crooks from the genuine SEO. I've compiled my Search marketing experience over the years in this article. I hope this helps you in selecting your Search Marketing initiative.
Commandment 1: There are no Rank Guarantees. (Period)
Search Engines alone control their indexing and ranking algorithm. Do not try to trick Search Engines. The only way to improve your Search Engine Ranks is by playing by the rules. And the rule is very simple: make it logical. Web content is primarily for the site visitor and not crawlers.
If your Search Engine Optimizer sold you magic "Top rank on google in 10 days flat". Forget it. There are no short cuts. Top ranking in Search Engines Natural Results will take time. Hard work is imperative especially for the content on your website and the links to your site.
Commandment 2: Ranking is not the end, it's the means.
Ask yourself what will Top Search Engine Ranks get you? Most businesses are interested in increasing sales on the website or in the least driving qualified traffic. Ranking for the right keywords (keywords used by your target audience) is important. There are SEOs who would try to show case results for keywords that occur only on your website. Beware such gimmicks.
Commandment 3: Know your competition.
"Rank" is relative position and more so in the Search Engine's natural results. How well you do in the Search Engine Results is a function of how much hard work you have put over competition. Analyze competition's keywords, links, keyword density and spread. But be sure to never copy your competition.
Commandment 4: Use Search Engine Friendly design.
A search and visitor friendly design is must for any successful website. Your website should be compelling enough for repeat visits by search engines and potential customers. Make sure you have Search Engine friendly urls and avoid those long URLs with query strings (http://mywebsite.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=5&a=z&f=g). You should also make sure that your web designer follows global coding standards like w3c (http://www.w3.org).
Commandment 5: Select Keywords that are worth.
You must research the keywords before targeting. There are tools that give you good idea of keyword's search potential for example (http://www.wordtracker.com/, http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/, https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordSandbox ). It is important to know the number of searches for a keyword in the last month, last 6 months and last year. You should also find out the number of web pages that are targeting the keyword. It is advisable to start a campaign with keywords with moderate competition and high number of search.
Commandment 6: Write Great content.
Even if your website site is technically perfect for search engine robots, it won't do you any good unless you also fill it with Great content. Great is contextual and has editorial value. Great content brings repeat visits and increases the chance of conversion. Great content is factual and appeals to the target audience. The web page should have desired action embedded in the content.
You must ensure that the content is fresh. Keep adding and editing the content regularly.
Commandment 7: Use good hyper linking strategy.
Hyperlinks make the content accessible and contextual. You must hyperlink in the right context within the website and to the other websites. Good links are appreciated by the Search Engines and by the visitors. No one likes to be taken to a mall selling "Macintosh" when shopping for "apples".
Commandment 8: Write relevant and original Meta content.
Meta content is like business cards. Just as your business card tells who you are and what you do Meta content tells the Search Engines the relevance and context of a web page. Resist the temptation to include everything in the Meta content, but make it detailed. Confused? The idea is to include only what is relevant to the page in the Meta Content but include everything that is relevant.
Commandment 9: Acquire Relevant Links.
The Links you acquire are the roads to your web page for Search Engine Bots and visitors. Good links increase your webpage's equity on the World Wide Web and bad link make a dent to the equity and credibility. Be selective in reciprocal linking. Both reciprocal and one way links work, if you are prudent in selecting the links. Submit your website to the relevant sections in relevant directories.
Commandment 10: Consult experts, if you need to.
If you have the competence there are two ways to learn. Learning from one's own mistakes and learning form other's experience. You could choose either. If you have the time and can wait for the online dollars do it yourself. If you want to get started now it may be useful to consult the experts.
Author's Bio:
The author is an expert in Search Marketing with over 10 years Online Marketing experience. He heads www.rankuno.com, the specialist in online marketing and Search Engine Optimization. RankUno empowers its clients around the world with high ROI online marketing programs. He may be reached at bhaskar@rankuno.com.
