2009 December - Part 2

Happy Holidays

By admin on Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009 | No Comments

As we all gather with family and friends for the holidays I hope we all give thanks for the things we have. This has been a very rough and tough year for a lot of us and as we move forward into the new year we all hope that things will get better.

I too will be be reflecting and planning for the new year to make things better for all my readers, while taking some time to be with family and friends .

My blog is being hijacked for the next couple of weeks by someone who has signed off as S. Claus. Anyone you might know? I will try to sneak in a few words over that time to be sure to take a look in during your busy holiday season.

If I don’t have another chance let me now wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May you find what you are looking for under that tree.

What Can Backlinking Do For Me

By admin on Friday, December 18th, 2009 | 2 Comments

Have you heard about backlinking?
An easy explanation is a backlink is a link (your link) which can be found on someone else’s site that, when you click it, will lead someone to your site. It is also called a inlink or inbound link.

How can I get some backlinking for me?

You could consider backlinks as an important piece of Search Engine Optimization because of those search engines being considered the Almighty Power that can control where your website will appear on their page ranking. It has something to do with the search engine’s (thik Google) algorithms for ranking your page. They will have a glance at the number of backlinks and the quality of backlinks. And as everyone knows, the higher you are in Google’s placement, The more traffic you will get to your site. Take yourself for instance, when you are searching for something, how many times do you go past the first page or two? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

You could actually have some really fantastic high-quality content on your site. Then you could have others to put a link to your content from their sites, and from there it just grows. You see, those backlinks are organic, or natural, because they went searching for you, not you looking for them.

Some other backlinks could actually be your doing. You could have actually asked other related sites to add your link to their site in a resources/link page or maybe you left a comment on their blog with your link. There are a few ways to get some backlinks.

The final prize for this is you want high quality backlinks.And as you are actively seeking backlinks, you could try hitting the higher page ranked sites because they carry more weight with those search engines. Just think of the whole thing like a popularity contest where you want to end up being one of Google’s BFFs.

If you want to check the page rank of some of the other websites very easily, you might want to make sure you have the Google toolbar as it is one of the features on the toolbar. Another way to check backlinks through Google is by putting link:thewebsite in the search function.

Here are some ways to go about getting backlinks:

1. Probably one of the easiest is to ask other related site owners to add your link to their website. And they usually will if you reciprocate. This is also considered one of the most overused and most people see this more as spam becuase of some of their past experiences With link requests from site that are not related to their subject at all. Take for instance the florist site asking to do a reciprocal link your cooking site.

2. You might also want to try to get some backlinks from submitting articles to article directories. If your articles are published on a site such as EzineArticles, a site with a page rank of 6, it can also generate some additional traffic to your site. And it could ba an added bonus if someone picks up that article from the article directory and then puts it on their site with your link in the resource box.

3. Better get to commenting on some blogs, especially those with the “Do Follow tag. Doing some blog commenting, especially heavily trafficked blogs, will get that link out there for backlinking and will also allow you to network, build relationships and build your brand. You might be able to ask to be a guest blogger on a high ranking blog for the backlink and the valuable exposure.

4. Try a backlinking service. There are a handful of monthly memberships on the Warrior Forum where you can get a list each month of high ranking websites that will allow you to post to your link. You might also check out the Google search function as well.

5. Be sure to participate in forums. You can put your active link in your bio and make relevant posts and leave valuable comments and answers to people’s questions. It would be even better if you found forums in your niche to participate in.

Now there are great many other ways to build backlinks, but know these methods of building your credibility with Google and climbing up the search engine ladder will take some time. You might want to consider outsourcing the project on an ongoing basis. This will free up your time to work on other things, like product creation, marketing and selling.

A Basic Understanding Of Search Engine Optimization

By admin on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 | 8 Comments

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO as it’s usually called, is a very hot topic for online marketers. It is the technique they use to optimize their websites hopefully so they can climb up the ranks in Google and possibly get to the first page of results as searchers type in their search words.

This process can be such a critical technique that a great many online marketers will make SEO a primary concern of their marketing campaigns. There are many resources you will find explaining Search Engine Optimization including ebooks, forums and other advice, some more useful than others.

One of the first things you need to consider are keywords and keyword phrases. Make sure those keywords or phrases are about the contents of your website. You will be able to use this to your advantage when you learn what terms your potential customers are using with the search engines to find the content on your site.

As someone is doing a Google search with keywords, what they will see is a listing of webpages that match their keyword inquiry. Those sites that they find that match the keyword or keyword phrase are known as SERPs, which stands for Search Engine Results Page.

You can begin by picking out several keywords or phrases that you feel that your potential customers would use to find webpages similar to yours. As an example, let’s say your niche is crafts, but let’s drill down to some terms that are not so broad. You want to think of keywords to reflect what your website is all about, like candle making, macrame instructions, or scrapbooking for kids.

It is usually a good idea to find out how many people are searching for your specific keywords as they search, you can use a keyword tool, like any of the three listed below.

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/

http://tools.seobook.com/keyword-tools/seobook/

There are others, some paid sites which are good. One I like is Market Samurai. It is nice and easy, has good support and great training videos.

You can also get a better idea of the amount of traffic your keywords are generating by using Google’s Traffic Estimator. You can put the keywords in the box, one phrase per line, select the language of your site and choose your currency. This will get you the search volume, estimated average CPC (Cost Per Click), estimated ad position, estimated clicks per day and the estimated cost per day, based on your cost per click.

FYI: Cost Per Click (CPC) is the amount of money you will have to pay search engines and other Internet publishers for a single click on your ads that sends a visitor to your website. This is another one of the tools for Google’s Adwords service.

Here is the link for Google’s Traffic Estimator:

https://adwords.google.com/select/TrafficEstimatorSandbox

As you are reading any ebook or report by an experienced marketer, they should be advising you to test your keyword results in search engines. You will find that the best place to be in the SERPs is in the first five positions, above the fold. As you see a larger number of webpages returned from your search term, it will be harder for you to get that optimum ranking in Google’s SERPS. If you can pick longer keyword phrases of 3-4 words, rather than 1-2 word phrases, the chances of your competition could be lowered.

One thing to keep in mind: As you search Google and the box in the top right corner says, for instance: Results 1-10 of about 149,000,000, that long number with all the commas is your competition. Try changing your keywords to longer ones, which are also called longtail keywords. You could find far less competition if you choose the right keywords and you have a much better chance of getting ranked on the first page of the SERPs.

As you are designing your website, be sure to change your keywords in each page title, trying to make sure your choice of page titles that have your keywords will reflect the content on each specific page. You might also consider doing the same with the Meta tags.

The information presented here are just a few basic SEO techniques you need to understand and use on your webpages and in other marketing processes. Once you get familiar with Search Engine Optimization, Google’s Adwords and SERPs, you will be ready to move on to some of the more advanced techniques. Also remember that SEO can and will change as Google decides to change it’s parameters.

Make Your Ezine An Important Part Of Your Arsenal

By admin on Monday, December 14th, 2009 | 7 Comments

I have seen a number of newbies to Internet marketing get themselves a few free and easy to set up media applications as they try to create an online business for themselves and create a responsive list. Two of the more popular choices are blogs and newsletters, or ezines as they are commonly called.

As you get going in the online business, it is sometimes hard to understand that marketing is your real job and your products are what you market and sell, nothing more. You will find that the easiest way to market your products is to publish an ezine that you send to your list. If you haven’t started a list as of yet, join forums and blogs related to your niche or passion, then add a link to your newsletter in your signature. Perhaps you could add a downloadable giveaway for the subscription to your newsletter.

Understanding the true use for newsletters is probably the worst mistake any new marketer can make when they are just starting out. Lots of people use the internet for information and even use email to stay in contact with friends and family. By making your newsletter informative, you will keep your subscribers happy when they see your newsletter in their email.

You also want to make sure that your newsletter in not just sales pitches for one or several of your products. There is no easier way for you to lose subscribers you have gained. Don’t ever think you can use your newsletter like an email sales letter though. It will get you placed in with hundreds of marketers who just send emails hyped full of empty promises. It can remind you of what you do when you receive emails and other marketing emails that are just sales hype and unbelievable promises.

The important part you must understand is when you are dealing with real people, and yes your subscribers are real people, just be sure to treat them like family and make them feel special, like they are an important part of your business. You will be able to do that by providing real content and other helpful information to your subscribers more times than if you were promoting something you were selling.

It is definitely a fact that it is harder to build trust online. People have so much crap to filter through that a lot of users become quite jaded and not willing to sign up for just anything, especially more hype. But how can you build trust?

Start out by defining your niche and just figure out what the members of that niche want. Maybe they are looking for training and tutorials. How about ecourses? Find out if they want step-by-step vidoes teaching them how to solve some problems. After you find out that information, you now have a formula for marketing to willing buyers.

Having a notebook available could be one of your best tools to determine what your subscribers’ future needs for information might be. Look for questions that get asked in the forums and blogs related to your niche. As your subscribers ask questions be sure to write them down in your notebook, along with your answer. As others praise a product or discredit it, write it down. These can be your focused topics for future newsletters.

What better way to promote loyalty than by asking your subscribers what they want to read about in your newsetter. It will help to draw them inside your newsletter and make them feel like they are a part of it. That’s Golden Loyalty!

Still thinking along those same lines, you might consider running a poll once in a while. You might want to ask what is the best and worse products they have ever used or what they like best or could live without on your newsletter. Show them you appreciate their responses and send them a free ebook or a piece of software that they would consider useful.

Be sure to use your subscribers name in every email or newsletter. and don’t send anything to anybody with “[Name]” in the greeting. You should be able to find scripts on your autoresponders that will add your subscriber’s name where you want it to be. And if you find that it works, put their name in the headline of your topics. You will find that is a real attention-getter and a loyalty builder. Do you remember how many times you have seen your name in the headline on anything sent to you?

And every once in a while entertain your readers with some lighthearted content, like a list of the “Top 10_______” or “The Most Amazing______,” as a filler.

You must remember that your subscribers are people who want information and solutions. All they want is to be entertained occasionally and appreciated all the time, just like you do.

Blogging Done The Right Way

By admin on Sunday, December 13th, 2009 | 8 Comments

My friend, Mike Paetzold, is your working man’s blogger. It almost seems like there is not a day that he is not blogging about something. Now granted he does have a few blogs to keep him busy and even though he is always posting, the quality of the content on each of his blogs does not suffer.

Of the ones I actually read I try to leave a comment, a worthwhile comment, about each one of his post. And so I was about to do so again this morning. I had jokingly thought about leaving a comment on him not taking a break and how he always seems to be posting. And then it hit. Not as hard as a 2×4 but you get the point.

In order to make money in this online business, in marketing or any business, you have to discover something that works for you and continue to do it. Once you have it right and everything is working smoothly, then move on and duplicate it again and again.

Now I would have to say that Mike, shhh… now, just between you and me, has discovered that secret. And not being sneaky about it either, kind of just going about his business. Ah, a successful internet marketer.

So, now instead of making a joke about it, maybe I should study and try and duplicate exactly what he is doing. Maybe I could actually pick up some tips that I could use in my business. See it pays to pay attention to those who are doing what you want to do and are doing it right.

Now I am not saying I can duplicate what he is doing exactly, but if I follow along and maybe ask him some questions, even pay closer attention about what he is saying on his blogs, I just might have a chance.

In one of Mike’s prior blog post, he was asked how often you should post to your blog. Mike did not have a definitive answer for that question. Only you can decide how much or how little you want to connect with your readers he said. Quality content is the key if you want them to come back for more.

Now maybe Mike’s business does not fit what you are trying to do. But I think you get the point, that if you want to do something and do it right, take a look at the people, a Guru even, who are doing what you want to do. Who are those successful people you could emulate?

If you get to a point where you are stuck you might be able to send them an email and ask for their help or a couple of tips that could keep you on track. They might even feel like you really are trying to become successful and it might take them back to when they started. It could turn out to be better than you had hoped.

But, let me caution you on one thing. Don’t approach these people, whoever they are, expecting a hand out. Your first words should not be, “can you help me get started doing what you are doing?” They will look at you in a better light if they feel you are at least giving the effort. You have to show some initiative. Then they just might give you that one tip that could take your business to the next level Or better yet, maybe they will even show you how it is done.

And look up Mike Paetzold and see some of his work blogging and you might discover some of his secrets. But remember, don’t let him know about it or let it get out. It can be our little secret.

Joining Giveaways- Do’s and Don’ts

By admin on Saturday, December 12th, 2009 | 8 Comments

Okay, here we go again. Another Giveaway event. I am pretty sure they will have some good stuff. There could be a lot you might not know about internet marketing, you feel you really need to get inside that Giveaway and start downloading as much as possible. Besides, everything in there is free!

That could be one way to think about it. Let’s look at another…

We have another Giveaway event. You can’t possibly have time for it and then you will be on all those marketers’ lists. Then you might spend the day downloading all of those products and you can’t get anything done. You get so overloaded with all that information that you feel your brain is going to explode. Then there is that guilt feeling because you know you can’t read everything and it could bug you to have loose ends. But, then again, it is free.

Most of the time we as marketers look at giveaways in a positive light, especially in the beginning, but then with something close to dread. I think there is a way to handle Giveaways that don’t lead you to feel like you have to check into a psychiatric ward from all the information overload and allow you to get extreme benefit from them.

What are you currently working on?
What are you missing from your current project- could it be knowledge of your subject, graphics, scripts, a backend product, a bonus or something else?

Start by writing down what you specifically need right now for that current project, tape it to your computer where you can see it. Then go ahead and join that Giveaway and then go on your search for only those things on your list. Come on now, you can do it! Just look over those titles and descriptions and don’t look at the squeeze pages unless you have decided that you can use it.

Try signing up for the Giveaway with an alias.
Maybe you could use the name of your current project. For instance, if you have an awesome project you are getting together about blogging, fill in your name on any opt-in form as blog. This will serve a couple of purposes; one it will help keep you honest and it will also remind you why you are at this Giveaway and two it will help you identify the source of the emails that are going to be hitting your inbox fairly soon after.

By being able to identify where the email is coming from, you don’t have to wonder who the heck this marketer is and why is he sending you stuff. You might actually be checking out the value of what is being sent instead of reaching for the spam or delete button.

Be sure to put the downloads somewhere you will remember them.
Be sure to create a new folder for your downloads on your computer. Maybe you can call it something like “blogging resources” or something you will remember what it actually is. Then you can put all of these downloads you collect from the Giveaway.

When you download the product, don’t feel you have to name it whatever the creator had named it. You might want to give it a new name that shows you the subject, source name and rights. You just want to make sure you will give it a name you will remember. For example, blogtipsTiffDowPLR lets me know, roughly, what’s in the file.

You can be sure that a Giveaway can actually be beneficial if you go about it the right way. Be sure to take a look at what you might need for that current project and then go on a hunting expedition throughout the Giveaway and download only what you really need. Remember, there will always be another Giveaway right around the corner that will have more items that you might be able to use if not now then for some future project you may have in mind.

Are You Thinking Outside The Affiliate Marketing Box

By admin on Friday, December 11th, 2009 | 7 Comments

Affiliate marketing has always been known as the fastest way for a newbie to get into the Internet Marketing scene for getting a business started. There are many how-to ebooks and short reports all over the Web that tell you all the latest and greatest ways of making money quickly, but they usually don’t turn out to be much.

Prior to getting started in the specific techniques used by affiliate marketers, you might want to adjust the way you think about this business and how you want to approach it.

The first thing you will want to understand is that you are probably not the only one promoting the products in your scheme of things. There will be lots of direct competition that might have a bit more experience than you. But not to worry, just investigate how they are marketing the same products that you are. Then learn where and when you can.

Something that will help will be to be as versatile very quickly and try using different techniques of promoting the same products to the public. You have to learn to be on the move quickly and have the focus of a hungry shark. How?

You might try templates to help your efforts. If you are going to use email marketing, set up several sample emails and then use them as templates. It will just require you to fill in the different details each time and then send to your list. Why would you want to reinvent the same processes over and over.

Along the same line with templates that might be useful is to have mini websites on your hard drive that can be quickly adjusted. You will find features like colors. clip art, headers and specific content details can be changed rapidly without making a completely new website each time you need one. You might also try to write several compelling paragraphs for each product that you can just copy and paste into the page in your WYSIWYG software when you need them.

When you get your product promotion launched, the rest of your job is marketing. Try using all of your spare moments to create an arsenal of spare content for when you need it. That will be thinking outside the box. It will also be handy for your blogs, if you have one.

Another quick and specific method of building interest and the resulting traffic would be by using videos that you publish on the social networking sites, like YouTube. You will be amazed how people are so crazy over videos and several million potential customers could easily view your video and follow the link if they are interested in what you have to say. It could lead you to becoming an experienced affiliate marketer. Who knows profits could follow.

Do You Walk The Walk And Talk The Talk?

By admin on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 | 8 Comments

Isn’t it amazing when you find some of those internet marketers that don’t practice what they preach? You hear them going on and on with what sounds like some good advice and then when you check them out they are not following that business model or the best practices they are praising. I have to step back some time to make sure I am not following this course. Do I walk the walk and talk the talk?

Here are some examples:

They say… Don’t send your list promotion after promotion.

They do… What else, promotion after promotion. And you don’t even have to bother opening their email after awhile, you know what is there. How about another promotion for their buddies new product.

People like to get good meaty content which you should do on a regular basis and from time to time throw in some promotions.

~~~

They say… You should be blogging on a regular basis to build your brand.

They do… Not keep up with their blogging. Could they be to busy? Is this blogging a really good business model?

Blogging is a great platform for building that brand. by providing information that can show you as an expert and doing it in ways to bring out your personality. People are really appreciative of that and will not only follow you but buy your products and listen to your recommendations. This is a great place to sell affiliate products, give them honest product reviews and show that personal side of you.

~~~

They say… Use article marketing to drive traffic to your site.

They do… No article marketing.

Now, some of them may do some article marketing under a pen name, but most may have moved on to easier and more lucrative forms of traffic generation. Most have probably established a good following and they don’t need to constantly write articles. But you must know that article marketing is not easy and there are a lot of nuances you need to know, like how your title is used to bring in readers and how to make that bio so people will want to click on your link. And also there other ways than article marketing to generate traffic.

~~~

They say… Put Adsense on your sites and you will make some good money from it.

They do… Little, if any, Adsense on their sites. They are even using most of the space to advertise their own products, affiliate products and paid product ads.

In the real world Google is just not going to fill your pockets with that Adsense money until you have done a little search engine optimization, get some awesome long tail keywords and drive that necessary traffic.

~~~

They say… You should do blah, blah, blah on your website.

They do… None of what they told you to do.

You may discover that you are reading or listening to someone’s words of wisdom and when you check to see if they have done it, you see they have not done it. So, if they are not doing it and they tell you to do it, it makes you wonder… Could they possibly be leading you off course? And are they out there preaching words they have not been doing? Can they technically do it? Are they out there trying to sell the latest and greatest but would never use it themselves? How then would you be feeling about that marketer?

Now, if they should happen to tell you to do something and they admit that it is something they also need to work on a bit more, then it is all okay. While I still have a ways to go this is a list that will hopefully keep me honest, how about you?

So, in conclusion, remember if you are going to preach, then preach what you practice. Also if you have others that are preaching to you, you get to listen to what they say and form your own judgement. Some of those marketers out there are preaching yesterday’s news. They may not know what works in today’s marketing. And always take into consideration that your circumstances may not fit everyone elses.

339 PLR Products In The Super Mega Sale

By admin on Monday, December 7th, 2009 | 5 Comments

I have the information about the Super Mega Sale that is being offered right now. Here is your opportunity to get your hands on enough PLR products that could take you years to go through. How about 339 pieces of PLR products that you can use whenever you want. You have enough for articles, reports, e-books…

Just think you can sift through all of this material and be able to enter all kinds of niches especially in the arena of Internet and Affiliate Marketing. With so many different niches to choose from you will have a hard time trying to decide on just what niche you want to get into, but don’t worry, like I said you have enough products and enough time. Have a look at all of the PLR products you can get.

==> Super Mega Sale

Now when you feel that you have really given it a thorough going over with all of those products, did I mention that there is a bonus. Well, there is and you will not believe that you are going to get another 400 Bonus MMR products. If you were to just sell a few of these you would pay for this entire product. If you ever wanted to build a business and you thought product production was holding you back, you have no more excuses.

You might find a few things in this product that may not fit your needs, but it is still one awesome deal and you never know down the road you might be able to use those products and …

==> Click Here Now

With so much good stuff that you will find in this package, you want to make sure that you take action and make use of such an excellent package. It will get you started for the new year and give you enough ideas to get a project a month going. Just think what that would do for your business and your year.

I do know that the price for this package will increase every three days until it reaches the price of $97. Not quite sure what will happen once that price point is reached. But as you prepare for the holiday season, don’t forget to give yourself a gift and it should include the Super Mega Sale for some holiday cheer.

==> Super Mega Sale

And if you need some help trying to figure out how to convert those PLR e-books into your own unique products, you might also consider getting yourself a copy of PLR Video Tutorial by Doug Champigny, and you will have your own step-by-step how to guide for PLR products.

Is Internet Marketing In Your Future?

By admin on Monday, December 7th, 2009 | 9 Comments

Couldn’t find a test or anything for you to take, but thought I would have you answer a few simple questions before jumping into internet marketing arena…

Am I interested in learning new things?
Will it make you crazy trying to figure them out? If you like to stay comfortable, warm amd happy then you are probably not ready to break out, try new things, and go out on a limb from time to time. If you really want to embark on this internet marketing path, you can expect to learn new things – a lot of new things – and you can expect some of them will be hard for you at first. You will have to challenge yourself to grow.

Am I afraid?
You will find that everyone is afraid from time to time, even the big guys when they first started out had some apprehension at some point in their internet marketing career. Take action anyway. You don’t want to be like the guy who works hard to create his first ebook and it’s really good but will not actually put it out to the public for sale because it is not perfect. The problem is not that it is not perfect, the problem is he is afraid of failing.

Will I allow myself to fail?
They say that failing is a part of learning. Just pick your self back up after your screw up or you fail at something, learn from your mistakes and go forward. Yes, you could possibly need a bandage for that hit you just took, but you might just have to develop the mindset that you have just had a failure, you learned a valuable lesson and you will make it better the next time. You can learn as you earn.

Can I focus?
Most of the wannabe marketers tend to reach for the latest product that pushes their buttons. They believe the marketer and just know it will work for them this time. They tend to spend a lot of time reading sales letters and buying products and very little time focusing on one busines model and working it 200 percent until it’s making them a good income.

Can I be my own boss?
Many a successful internet marketer starts off pushing themselves much harder than any boss ever did. They realize that if they want to make the big bucks they will have to work hard at the start and smarter later. Are you willing to tell yourself “no’ as in no TV, no Myspace, no online games until the work you set out to do is accomplished.

Can I figure out where to get help?
It doesn’t matter whether it is researching an answer on or offline, or reaching out to a person in the know, you will need to find answers to the puzzling issues and problems you come across. Sometimes the answer could be as simple as YouTube, but make sure you are looking for answers in the usual and unusual places or you might end up dead in the water.

Are you comfortable with selling?
I would say this is big. It doesn’t matter what product you create, you are going to have to sell it. You will not get anywhere being the “apologetic marketer” but you don’t have to push your agenda down people’s throats either. Try to find a happy medium where you can be true to yourself, but actively sell your product.

Am I a control freak?
Probably one of the toughest for many people. They want to do everything, control every aspect of the business. But actually, trying to handle all the minute details is holding them back, even preventing their business from growing. If you would find outsourcers you trust, you could build a relationship and create a team. Just try to forget that you can do it better yourself.

Can I network?
You might think that Internet Marketing is about going it alone. That is further from the truth than you might think. Even if you are in your home office working it all alone. Those relationships are very important and you will want to build them with other marketers, not only to converse with people who “get” what you are doing, but also you will be able to help each other out.

You will get constructive criticism when you ask them to look over your product, throw pointers your way regarding your copywriting and help you with your marketing funnel ideas. And you can return the favor – maybe show them how to install that script or better yet give them a testimonial for their latest product.

Again remember, this is not a test, but some questions you should ask yourself. But be honest with your answers and go from there. You just might be ready to be an Internet Marketer.

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