Internet Marketing Strategies

This article is for the attention of (fta) newbies who are finding their feet in the Internet World. Please do not take this article the wrong way as I was once classed as a “newbie on the net” I have now been online for just under 3 years and I am still learning.


 There are so many different components to running a business online that we just have to sometimes get the basics and take action. I was listening in to an online seminar recently where one of the speakers a blogging expert called Mike Paetzold spoke about doing just that!


 He said the three tools that you need to start a business are: 

1. A good autoresponder to build your list
2. A reliable hosting company to host your domain name
3. A method to track where your traffic is coming from so that you are targeting your best traffic conversation article blogs etc.
   
   
   

 AWEBER for me is the best autoresponder tool our there. The owner is always making sure that you emails get through to your subscribers. He talks to people to ensure you do not get into trouble for spamming etc.


 HOSTGATOR is a company that has all the right people in place to ensure that your website uptime is excellent and it has a 24/7 live customer service that will sort out your problems ASAP!


 HITS CONNECT has so many features to enable you track your customers from when they click on your site right through to the Thank You page after the purchase. You can test and track different sales pages to get the best one.


 The reason I have mentioned the above tools are simply I use them to build and grow my business each and every day. I have tried other tools, however through trial, error and a lot of money I have found the one’s above are in my opinion the best to help me make money online.


 They have good customer service which is a must for any newbie or seasoned online business builder. Just click on the links above and have a look at their websites; you will see that they are serious about helping you build your business.


 I will be looking at other tools that will help the newbie in growing their business without spending too much money. Just add my site to your favorite’s list and keep visiting.  

Writing a blog is a great way to make money and it’s agreat way to build your list too. You can also sell yourown products and/or sell affiliate products from your blog. However, for any of these things to actually work, you first need to get traffic to your blog. Three ways to drive traffic to your blog are to write articles, digg your blog, and post on forums.


 The first way to drive traffic to your blog is to write articles. The best place to submit articles is ezinearticles.com. This site is also the strictest so make sure you follow all their rules. It will take just a few days to get your article approved but once you get 10 or more articles live on the site you’ll become a “platinum”member and then your articles should get accepted in about a day or so. What you want to do is write articles that are related to your blog’s information. Then put a link to your blog in the signature box below the article.


 

The next way to get more readers to your blog is to digg it. This means that you submit each blog you write to

digg.com. This is a very easy process. It takes you about 30 seconds to sign-up. Then you complete the sign-up process by checking your email and clicking the link that digg sends you. Then all you need to do is click on “Submit New” at the top of the page. Then plug in the url to the individual blog post and then you’re all set.

 The third way to drive more traffic to your blog is by participating in forums that are related to your blog. Now, there are a couple of different ways to promote your blog on these forums. The first way is to put a link to your blog in your signature. That way the link to your blog appears every single time you make a post. The second way to use forums to your blog is to read the posts and find an interesting topic or question. Then go back and write a post about that topic, then return to the forum and post a reply that you covered this exact topic on your blog. Then refer them to the link in your sig. or post the direct link in the reply.



 These are just three of the ways to drive traffic to your blog. However you must insure that your blog is set up correctly so that it will attract the search engines that ultimately bring the traffic to your blog. I have bought a couple of products from Mike Paetzold, who for those that do not know him is in my opinion one of the leading experts on blogging!


 For example I purchased his “7 tips to make your Wordpress Blog Search Engine Friendly” As a direct result taking action the traffic sent to this blog increased dramatically thus increasing my chances of making a sale.


 Why not take a look at his site the link is on the right hand side of this blog.   

Whether you read a lot of article’s, sales pages or blogs about building your own list, it’s important that you ensure the list that you are building will purchase from you. There is nothing worse than building a list that will buy nothing from you even if you send them a great offer.

 I read a thread in a forum today from a lady who has been building a list for over a year of hard work. Her list was over 1000 so she should be making a decent income from this list. Now get ready for this, to date she has not made 1 sale. Nothing Nada Zilch! My jaw fell to the floor when I read the thread. She was asking why! If she needs to ask that question then she has obviously not ensured her list is targeted to whatever she is selling, giving away etc.

 It is important that you research your intended market to ensure that you have all the relevant information before you embark on a costly time and money traffic plan to build your list. For example!

 You must ensure your emails are getting through to your list. Use only a top class autoresponder.
Ensure your email/newsletter etc is targeted to the right audience.
Make sure you send frequently. Each list is different so you will have to gauge your customers.
You must ensure your customers are given the right call to action both in the email/newsletter Heading and text.

 This is but just a few of the actions you must take to ensure your list is responsive to your information/offers.

 I built one of my lists using Affiliate Funnel a great programme run by two online professionals Jon Olsen and Paul Kinder. Pay them a visit and have a look for yourself.

So people have told you to go out and build a list. Maybe you think why should I? You feel that all you have to do is build your website start to advertise it and the sales will come rolling in! In fantasy land this may happen however in the real world it rarely does.


 Let us look at the first element selling to a potential customer. You have used various methods to drive that customer to your website. This person may or may not buy, after they have left your site without buying you may never see them again. If you have been tracking your results you will know how much it have cost you to get that person to see you site.


 Now lets take the same customer who you have managed to get onto your list using a tried and tested method. They may not take up your offer this time however you still have their details so can send them another offer. It has cost you the same to get this person onto your list initially. But now its costs you nothing to send them a second offer. It’s a well proven fact that building your list will make you increase your income substantially.


 So how do you go about starting to build your own list? I have used a product called Affiliate Funnel which is run by Jon Olsen and Paul Kinder who are both successful online Marketers.

“White Hat SEO”

In the 2+ years that I have been working fulltime online the single most important lesson that I have learnt is that without getting traffic to your website/blog you will never get your business off the ground. 

I have read countless E-books on this subject and even attended off line seminars  to try and get the magic bullet that will get that all important traffic to my websites. I have come to the conclusion that there are numerous ways to generate traffic both paid and free methods.

Whilst paying traffic give you eyes on your site, as soon as you stop paying you get no more traffic.

I have always used the free method because apart from the obvious I have found this type of traffic to generate more conversations thus improving my bottom line. Plus the methods I use keep the same and new traffic coming back.

I personally use 2 types of free traffic generation tools.

Firstly I write articles like this one, them post them in between 20 - 40Article directory’s that I know have a good page ranking and get spidered by the search engines on a regular basis. By using articles I get a steady continuous flow of traffic to my website each and every day. I have only written the article once then posted it. Over time it gets copied and posted in other directory’s / websites thus driving yet more traffic to my website.

Secondly I use free Manual Traffic Exchanges where I place a squeeze page to obtain potential customer details then they are added to my list and sent emails from time to time advertising my products.

There are many benefits to participating in Manual Traffic Exchanges:


 1.      They’re an inexpensive - often free - method of generating targeted traffic to your website.


 2.      You will start seeing an increase in traffic almost immediately. No waiting for weeks or months to see results, as is often the case with other forms of advertising. This can only be a Win Win situation for your business.


 3.      They can be a great way to test ad copy for use with other, more expensive forms of advertising such as Pay Per Click campaigns. This will allow you to make sure your Traffic plan is working before you think about paying.


 4.      You can build a “downline” by referring others, which allows you to more quickly earn credits. Over time your traffic can be almost entirely generated by the efforts of others. Thus allowing you more free time!


 5.      You’ll gain exposure to your competitor’s products and services, which will give you some good ideas for promoting your site. Enabling you to increase your bottom line!


 The main problem is making sure that you choose the right exchange for the many that are out there. Since coming online just over 2 years ago I have tried and tested in excess of 50 exchanges.


 I have found that the best traffic exchange are those which are advertised not only by affiliates but also the owner of the exchange. It shows that he/she have faith in their business and is willing to invest not only their valuable time but also their hard earned cash.

I personally use manual traffic exchanges as part of my traffic plan. The reason I use them is simple they produce good quality results. They are Traffic-Splash.com / Dragonsurf.biz / Swattraffic.com owned and operated by Paul Kinder / Soren Jordansen / Jon Olson respectively. All of these people take great pride in their businesses and advertise them to the hilt.

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Building Your List. Since coming online in 2006 if I have heard “The money is in the list” once, I have heard it a thousand times. In those early days I had no real idea what this meant or how I could get my own list. The whole concept of building a list was alien to me.


 When I joined someone’s list I would get a thank you email followed up with maybe a free gift that I could access via a URL. Then at regular intervals follow up emails would arrive in my inbox with tempting offers, further free information and much much more.


 I could at that time not get my head around this concept of content delivery. What tools to use where to source the products? It seemed so over whelming to say the least. I have spent the last 2years plus working out all the different elements and how to put them together so that they all work.


 The plus is I have at last mastered how to build and sell to a list. The negative was the time it took me to gain the information and experience. I have now found a business that will help you build your list and let you sell the products that you want to sell.


 The great thing is it’s free to join. Plus I love this part it has a weekly seminar on a Saturday at 12pm E.S.T. I have learned so much just listening in on these seminars they are always packed with great information and plenty of Golden Nuggets to help you in your business.


 The site is co-owned by Jon Olsen and Paul Kinder who both own and run successful Manual Traffic Exchange businesses.


 It is well worth a visit to see what they have on offer.

There are a number of different places you can obtain a free blog. The first two that come to mind are a Wordpress Blog (wp) these are for people who have access to a cpanel via their hosting account. Second there is a free blog from Google, which you can get by opening a Google account.


 The third one which is new to the internet business world is called MyCCBlog a services provided by Mr Mike Paetzold. Mike is a big name in the blogging world, he provides up to date relevant information and good quality products all things related to Blogs and Blogging.


 I have bought a number of his products and always found them to be of a high standard. He really knows his stuff and is very helpful to boot when you post a question on any of his blogs.


 I listen into a seminar just recently where Mike was talking about how to ensure your blog is search engine friendly. I suddenly realised that my own blog was not set up correctly, so I went out and bought his short report on how to carry out the tasks required, ensuring my blog got spidered by the search engines on a regular basis. I now get regular attention by the search engines and I get more visitors, which has resulted in an increase in revenue.


 Mike has put together a great package which means that you can get a free blog which has been tuned up to ensure you get visited by the major search engines. I have set up my own free blog and I am enjoying great traffic being sent to it.


 Pop over today to MyCCBlog and have a look for your self.