Make Money

Labels: firefox, software

Labels: forex, money maker

PPC advertising has many great benefits. First of all, you get your traffic going quickly. I have used this advantage many times. I test new products and even new websites through PPC advertising before making a decision to promote or scrap my new website or product idea.

I am a firm believer in testing new products before throwing large amounts of money into advertising. PPC advertising is a great way to do this. For example, with Google's Adwords program, you can post your ad, pay a $5 sign-up fee and have highly targeted traffic to your website within an hour. How is that for efficiency?

Also, you can moniter your click charges and stop them before they get too expensive. By the time you have spent your budget on clicks, you should have a pretty good idea of how successful your product is going to be.

I think of PPC advertising as being the most useful when starting a new business or product. WIth PPC advertising, you can quickly and efficiently find out which keywords you need to target and which products are the most popular.

Once that testing period is over, however, it's time to look into Search Engine Optimization. PPC advertising can be very expensive, costing hundreds, even thousands a month in advertising costs. Once you know what keywords to target, it's time to put together a plan on how you are going to optimize your website. The drawbacks to search engine optimization is that it requires a lengthy amount of time to get your site to rank high with your keywords. That is why I suggest using this method after the testing period is over, when you already know your business will be profitable.

Search Engine Optimization is definately a slow way to get your website traffic if you plan on not using PPC traffic. It could be a long, expensive road before you even begin selling your product. Search engines can take months, even years to start pulling up high with the search engines. But, natural search engine traffic is definately the best long term way to get the majority of your traffic.

When getting your site to start pulling up in SE natural listings there are 2 main things that need to be done:

1. Add Content

2. Add Backlinks

Search engine traffic requires you to submit your site to many different search engines and wait, maybe even months for them to spider your website.

I have had much better luck with another route. You can pay a fee to have your website listed in a very high ranking directory like www.dmoz.com (free), www.yahoo.com's directory ($299), sbd.bcentral.com (only $50), or another website where your link is on a page that has a page ranking of 4,5,6 or higher. The sites I mentioned above have rankings of 8 or 9. When you have your link on a site with that high of a ranking, the search engines are spidering those sites constantly and will find your website and spider it very quickly. Not only will they find it quickly but because you are linked to a high ranking site, you will also rank higher with the SE.

When looking for backlinks, focus on sites with content related to yours and high page rankings of 4 or higher.

As for content on your site, try to include about 200-500 words of content or text on most of the pages of your site. Text makes your site bulkier. Make sure to integrate all of the keywords you want to target within the content of your site. Don't worry about cramming the same keywords in over and over. Search engines may possibly even blacklist your site for keyword stuffing, if you try to do that.

There is a lot to know about Search Engine Optimization but, those are the 2 main factors when getting started.

In summary, when starting out, I suggest using PPC advertising for testing products and keywords. Spend time optimizing your site for search engine traffic after you have tested your products and keywords.

Labels: money maker, ppc, yahoo

If you've been looking for an easy way to increase your website's revenue, Google AdSense may be your answer.

Google AdSense is a phenomenal new advertising revenue program that is taking the Internet by storm. It was specifically designed to enable content rich sites to increase their advertising revenue simply by displaying Google AdWords ads.

Google AdSense makes selling advertising space easy, as they handle everything for you. With access to a database of 100,000 advertisers, you'll never have to worry about finding advertisers for your website again.

The concept is simple. If you have a quality site that provides content, such as articles, you may qualify to display Google AdWords text ads on your web pages. If your site is approved, you will receive a portion of the pay-per- click payment.

The great thing about Google's sophisticated advertising system is that the ads that display on your web pages are relevant to your content. They scan each page to determine what your page is about and display the ads accordingly. This will increase your click-through rate considerably, as relevant text ads combined with quality content are highly effective.

Although the AdSense program is free to apply, your site will be reviewed and must be approved in order to begin displaying the ads.

As there have been many sites turned down, you'll need to ensure your site meets Google's criteria prior to applying. You can find the guidelines at the following web address: https://www.google.com/adsense/policies

They're basically looking for quality sites offering content. The keywords here are "quality and content." If your site is under construction, loaded with advertising and/or broken images and links, don't even waste your time applying, as you won't be accepted. However, if you have a quality site and provide your visitors with content, you will most-likely be accepted.

Labels: adsense, google, money maker

There are good reasons why many webmasters and website owners choose to pay for visitors to their website as opposed to the involved and often grueling method of search engine optimization. Improper SEO may not only waste time and resources, there is never a guarantee that what your site is optimized for will result in actual sales or conversions. Choosing Bid for Placement advertising can help ensure that you get what you pay for and pay as little as possible to do it.

How You Know if Pay Per Click is Right for You The single biggest mistake most PPC advertisers make is paying a higher amount for visitors than they can afford. Pay per click search engines are ideal to generate traffic if you already know what it costs to generate one sale or conversion. By not going over their predetermined amount, advertisers can dramatically increase the likelihood of their websites' success.

High-End Pay Per Click is Not Right For You if? There are millions of websites online but only a small percentage of these sites can benefit from the traffic that high-end PPC resources such as Google Adwords or Overture provide. When it comes to generating conversions from the top-tier of PPC's, low profit margin categories of business (members of affiliate programs for example) would do well to avoid higher priced bid for placement search engines (as bid prices are often too high) and focus on 2nd tier pay per click services or vertical portals working on a bid for placement model.

How to Choose A PPC That is Right For Your Campaign When choosing a PPC campaign for your website, take into account not only bid prices, but traffic volume, customer service and account management tools.

Check Bid Prices A significant mistake that novice PPC advertisers make is to jump immediately into the largest advertising networks, namely Google Adwords and Overture. While these PPC's certainly have the most extensive reach, bid prices per visitor are higher than any other network and can easily drain your account before even one visitor converts. Check bid prices before signing on anywhere and match as closely as possible to what you have determined you can pay for each website visitor.

Inquire about Customer Service No thanks to their size, larger PPC's usually have much less attentive customer service (unless you are one of the larger advertisers - this means spending $10,000 a month or more). Many second tier PPC's pride themselves on their attentive customer service. Always ask your PPC company if they can help advise you before and during your campaign to ensure the highest ROI.

Investigate the "Reach" Bid for placement search engines (PPC) are simply advertising networks that help you spread your message to their users. As some PPC networks have greater access to more users, it is important to investigate the reach not only of their own network but the network size of their partners. When speaking with sales or customer representatives ask for a list of their partners.

Top Tips for Success with PPC

There have been many small business website owners who have lost their proverbial shirts with bid for placement advertising. Case study after case study has shown that the reason that most fail with PPC is a lack of understanding on how to maximize the bid for placement model to their advantage across various networks simultaneously. Here are a few tips to make the most of an online advertising campaign using a PPC methodology:

1) PPC success resides in your titles and descriptions

Well-written titles and descriptions can make or break a PPC advertising campaign the same way they affect traditional search return listings. The most important thing to keep in mind when writing titles and descriptions is that you are not only speaking directly to the searcher, you have an obligation to explain your product or service so that it either elicits a positive response sufficient enough to motivate them to click or discourage them from clicking altogether if what you are offering is not what they are actually looking for. When writing titles and descriptions, focus on the specifics of what that user will find at your site, i.e. special deals or discounts, signup information for a newsletter, registration for an e-book, etc.

2) Use Specific Terms for Specific Pages

By bidding on specific terms related to your business and directing visitors to specific pages which represent those terms, conversion rates on this practice increase dramatically. Imagine conducting a search and finding a great title and description but then having to go through hundreds of page to locate the information. When "landing pages" are created which offer information on what the surfer originally searched for, chances are that they will take the action you want them to, whether it be signing up for a newsletter or purchasing a product. A common rule of thumb is to have no more than fifty terms per page that you are promoting on a PPC.

3) Be Passive or Aggressive, but be something

Most PPC advertisers are either passive PPC players or aggressive marketers. The secret behind PPC marketing is that these networks' partner with other networks to display advertisers' advertisements. So the higher you bid on a PPC, the better placement you will receive on network/partner sites. Bidding in this manner makes you an aggressive PPC marketer and the advantages are many and include ? more traffic and more exposure to target markets.

If a small website (or one of a low profit-margin category of business) decides that the traffic that each PPC network alone provides is sufficient, managers of the campaign must be aware of their bid amounts (overbidding or underbidding) as well as what can afford to pay for each visitor. Usually the top four positions are where most of the traffic is received from - the highest percentage of total clicks (thanks to partner networks). The number of clicks in your account will usually decrease incrementally based on your bid.

CONCLUSION: PPC advertising has proven to be a productive method of generating traffic (and more importantly) sales or conversions for many webmasters and web site owners. If you are thinking about trying your hand at pay per click, make sure to use the tips outlined in this article and ask others PPC advertisers if they have any advice!

Labels: money maker

Where do I start if I want to be an online marketer? Tough question, huh? There are lots of ways to begin your way on the bumpy journey. Just make sure you are aware that it WILL be a bumpy ride.

First things first: do a lot of research. Find out what kind of thing
appeals to you most. It could be affilate programs, mlm`s or maybe you
like the idea of selling other peoples products for a commission etc.

There are a ton of options, and 1000 times more hype. This is why it`s so important to do as much research as you can before starting out. Sure, you can go the long way round, which is how a lot of us start out, but that`s even more of a bumpy ride...hehehe

Ok, so lets say you`ve decided on where you want to start. You don`t have a product of your own, so you decide to sell other peoples information products, just as an example. Don`t make the mistake that so many people do, by trying to sell something you haven`t personally tested.

Put it this way: Who would YOU prefer to buy from? Someone who knows absolutely nothing about the product they`re selling? Or someone who has had firsthand experience with the product they`re selling? You know it`s person number 2, right?

So test the product first. Learn everything there is to know about it. If people can trust you to give an honest opinion, they`ll be back for more. Great way of getting contacts AND repeat customers.

Now you need a website. Sure, get a free site in the beginning. People might not take you real serious, but at least you get to test and play around with your site until you`re ready to pay for one. Owning your own domain name adds credibility to your site, and there are plenty cheap hosts out there, so do that as soon as you feel ready.

Make a real fast-loading splash page from which to sell the product. You don`t have long to catch a potential customers interest, so make it fast and interesting.

Don`t fill the page with a ton of waffle. Give the most important information. What can the person get from using the product? Why is the product exactly what the person needs? What is the price etc. Give people a way to pay immediately, in case they REALLY like what they see, there and then.

If you have a LOT of information, give them a link to a "more info" page, maybe with pics and payment options. Get a small popup where people can sign up for your contact list for notices on future products. Give them a freebie in exchange for their name and email address.

Oh look, you`ve suddenly built yourself a contact list! No "leads" to buy from uncertain sources, no "harvesting" email addresses, no bugging friends and family. You did it! Now you need to keep in touch with your contacts.

Why not send them a mail asking for a little more info. Maybe a poll on what type of things they`re most interested in? If you know what your contacts are looking for, then you have something to work with. You can find whatever they need, test it out, and when you`re happy with it, say "Hey, I found something I think you may like!"

Narrow your focus. Don`t try to be "everything" to "everyone", you`ll just end up spreading yourself out way too thin. Find what works for you, what excites you, and work from there. Yes, I said "excites". We all need a bit of excitement in life, right? So why not work with something you`re excited about? If and when it stops working for you, drop it and move on.

Remember, you can do this with all kindsa programs, not just information products. It all depends on what appeals to you most. Just give it a reasonable amount of time, and stick with it. If it DOESN`T work, then hey, you`ll have learnt some things on the way, and you`ll be more ready to carry on to the next thing. Don`t give up, be determined and disciplined,and you will find the way.

The final answer is "Maybe."

Hey...Whadya expect? I'm an attorney!


But let me explain further. The correct answer to almost any marketing question is "to test." That's the only way you really know the true answer. But we can learn from the results that others have and adapt them to our marketing.

When it comes to PPC (pay-per-click) search engines, you know they are not all created equal. Google and Overture dominate the market. The total traffic you get from them will dwarf the total from all other PPC search engines combined.

But does that mean that there's no money in the little guys? Au Contraire. (That's the fancy French way of saying, "No." -- and I probably missspelllled it. It's been long time since my high school French class.)

Before I give you some suggestions, please realize that your results are going to vary - always.

Here's the most important point of this entire article:

Your conversion rate will vary from search engine to search engine. A lot. By as much as 300%.

You can run an advertisement on Google and get a 2% conversion ratio of visitors turning into buyers. Then, run the same advertisement on Overture and only see a 1% conversion ratio. Always...always track your promotions and results. They'll be all over the place in terms of conversion.

Does that mean you should stop the ads with the lower conversion ratio?

Absolutely not...unless you're not showing a profit. Aha. Remember, it doesn't matter that the conversion ratio varies as long as you make a profit!

Let's assume you foolishly have no backend marketing in place so the only money you ever see from a customer is on the one- time sale that has a profit of $30 per sale. And you require at least a $15 profit to you after costs. with a 1% conversion ratio, you can pay 15 cents per click and still make your numbers work. You'll get less clicks than if you bid higher, but you can still make the numbers work for you.

Of course, every PPC campaign you get set up and running profitably can be basically put on autopilot. You don't have to micro-manage the campaigns. Just let them keep on bringing in buyers.

You will generally find that the smaller PPC search engines have lower conversion rates than the big two. But they will also usually have a lower average bid.

Just track your clicks and sales so you can adjust your bids to make your numbers work. Even if a specific campaign only results in 1 more profitable sale per month - that's a sale that can keep coming in month after month after month. Do that for just 50 or 100 keyword and search engine combos... and you've got some nice extra moolah rolling in.

By Shawn Casey.

Understanding that the Internet is another vehicle for direct response marketing can potentially make you rich!

It's true. Not many people actually 'get it'.

Information marketing has much in common with the 'old school' mail order business. In fact, many of the practices you see online today such as two page direct sales mini-sites, mailing lists and unique products, come directly from the mail order model.

Every Internet Marketer would benefit from studying the mail order industry. The basic marketing principles and practices employed by the industry translate naturally to the online environment.

The five core priorities of successful mail order companies parallel those of the online marketer. They are: demographics, targeting, testing and tracking, up-selling and customer follow up. If you aren't focused on these key areas yet, read on to discover why should be, and what it will mean for your bottom line.

Direct Response Lesson #1: Demographics

Demographic information provides an in depth profile of your potential customer. There are two ways to acquire demographic information, and two separate motives for each method.

You can:

Acquire data from consumer data mining companies such as MarketShare Online  Acquire data from your existing customer base

The preferred source depends on your product development process and your current resources. Professionally gathered data allows you to survey the market and create highly targeted products. Rather than searching through keyword lists for potential niches, you can use demographic data to target specific classes of consumers based on their spending habits and disposable income. Your marketing strategy becomes much clearer with this data in hand. It allows you advance insight into your customer's interests, pricing points and mindset. Now, you have a baseline against which to test the effectiveness of your sales message.

You should also acquire as much demographic data as possible from your existing customer base and mailing list. Even when you possess the resources to pay for this information you should still query your own customers.

Why?

Quite simply, you need to compare the profile of your existing customer base against your expected customer base. For example, if you sell a high-priced information product targeted towards small business owners, yet find that 50% of your list is composed of non-qualified tire-kickers, something is off with either your sales copy, your targeting or both.

Direct Response Lesson #2: Targeting

Here is a rule of thumb for you to memorize: interest and need alone are not enough to generate a sale. This is a controversial statement, I know. Ask yourself the following question, though: how often have you found yourself interested in a product yet not purchased it? How often have you needed a product, yet not been able to afford it?

The truth is that, in either case, despite your interest and your need, you were only marginally targeted when the offer was presented to you.

This subtle case points to the synergy between demographics and targeting. This is why mail order companies go to such great effort to acquire detailed information on the marketplace. Whether you send 100, 000 pieces of mail or pay for 100,000 visitors to your web site, the goal is the same: put the offer in front of the right people, at the right time. If you put the right offer in front of the right person at the wrong time, it's the same as no offer at all. It is untargeted.

Direct Response Lesson #3: Testing and Tracking

You absolutely must test and track everything you do. You must track your pay-per-click campaigns, your newsletter mailings and the paths taken by visitors to your web site. You must test your ad copy and your product pricing.

The testing and tracking phase of a marketing campaign marks the proving ground between demographics and targeting. Once you've acquired the data on your potential customer's behavior, you must track their actual behavior to find out if it matches the expected results.

Until you do this, you are really only guessing at what works. Every mail order company places a tracking code on their post cards. This allows them to zero in on the exact location, age, income, race and marital status of responsive customers. When you first launch a product online, however, you are essentially blind to this information until you start tracking. As you gather your data, however, you will discover which search engines and which newsletters pull the best. Over time, you will be able to match this up with deeper demographic data collected from your list and discover, at the very least, the age and income of your customers and which search engines they prefer.

Can you imagine knowing that men between the ages of 24-34, for example, prefer Google, or that stay at home mothers prefer Yahoo? This type of data is priceless because it directs your targeting up front. This is the exact goldmine which awaits you when you devote careful attention to testing and tracking your campaigns.

Direct Response Lesson #4: Create Robust Order Forms for the Up-Sell

Your order form can pull more profit through impulse purchases than you realize. Many internet marketers seem to believe that one product should lead to one simple order form. This is probably due to so many of us being self-taught. We copy what we've seen.

Have you ever stopped to examine a mail-in coupon or catalog form? Even when the offer ultimately focuses on one major product, the form still includes an up-sell and sometimes even a counter-offer.

For example:

"Yes! I'd like to order the Incredible Bikini Wax System for $49.95 today! Also, please include my 14 ounce bottle of Instant Soothing Moisturizer, a perfect complement to the Incredible Bikini Wax System and a steal at only $9.99" (Up-Sell)

"Yes, I'd like to subscribe to Golfing Today! Instead of the incredible offer of 12 issues for $14.99, I'd like to receive a full 52 issues a year for $29.95" ( counter-offer)

The reason for doing this, of course, is that the customer is already interested and already in a buying mindset. You've done all the hard work to lead him to your site and you've enticed him with your sales letter. He's on the order form with credit card in hand. Why not use this moment to make a complementary offer? You can up-sell a related product of your own or that of one of your joint venture partners for a profit split.

There's really no harm in making the offer. The customer will either take you up on it or he won't. The important point here is that a robust order form, with additional offers, helps you squeeze out extra profit and cuts down the work of luring that customer back in the future to make additional purchases.

Direct Response Lesson #5: Post Sale Follow Up

What happens to your customer after the sale? Take a page from the book of mail order secrets and follow up with that customer! If you've ever purchased anything through a catalog, you know what happens. You end up on their mailing list and continue to receive catalogs and other offers in the mail.

In fact, you may receive so much mail from that one company that you become irritated! While I don't recommend going overboard with your mailings, I do recommend moving your customers to an announcement list or newsletter.

You don't want a one time shot with that individual. Rather, you want to build a lasting relationship. Your follow up process should be designed with several goals in mind:

? Keeping your name and brand in front of the customer ? To build trust and credibility by sharing supporting material that adds value to the product ? To maintain contact so that you can make additional offers in the future

Customer follow up is so important it can't be stressed enough. There is a rule which states that 80% of your sales will come from 20% of your customers. In other words, if someone purchases from you once, they are likely to purchase from you again provided you take appropriate action and keep them connected to you.

Remember that your customers are human and may go through a variety of emotions after making a purchase.

They may experience buyer's remorse. They may feel nervous about sharing their credit card information with you and then never hearing from you again. They may absolutely love you and your product and want to reach out for more information. You must tend to each of these variables in order to gain the customer's trust and appreciation, so follow up!

What will you do with the five lessons presented to you in this article? You have before you a nearly complete outline of a profitable business system for online marketing. Take these principles to hear and put them into practice. Know your market. Speak to your market. Connect to your market. I guarantee your profits will soar.

By Jo Han Mok.

Labels: yahoo

In the mid 1990's websites used to earn income by receiving money from advertisers by publishing or allowing companies to deploy a banner ad campaign on your website. Usually these banners would be brilliantly designed to catch the eye of the consumer along with a short message. The website in turn would receive a tiny profit from a click-through, which was when a customer actually clicked on the banner and went into the website and purchased the product. This was considered traffic-driven income. It was the industry standard until Google came along.

Google has since revolutionized the click-through market by using an innovative approach to advertising, Google AdSense. The beauty behind getting involved with Google now more than any other search engine is due to Google's straightforward approach to a banner/content-free home page. You would sign up your website for affiliation with Google and upon approval your site would be given special code to place the targeted ads on your website. Basically saving Google the space and inconvenience of having to deal with banner ads.

You still may be wondering what Google AdSense actually does. AdSense is a program in which you get paid for targeting your readers to another websites product or service.

A click through is measured when someone actually clicks on the hyperlink. Many web sites now have Google AdSense ads employed. Google AdSense uses Google Adwords content and services in a display box that you place strategically on your website. Google Adword customers pay Google a determined amount of money which will be paid to the website from Google. Since the popularity of Google has risen to such prominence, AdSense affiliates can make a nice amount of money should they be able to deploy the Google AdSense box properly on their website.
Other sites like Earthlink and Ask.com also employ the same technologies through click through methodologies. The more people that visit popular sites and see your name or hyperlink associated with a product the better chance your site will be seen. Remember, you will be paid a small amount per click for some websites and much more for others. What determines the amount is how much the Adwords advertiser places on each click.

Advertisers can pay as little as .50 per click in upwards of $5 (even more). Often campaigns are budgeted for a period of time. The amount budgeted will be rationed over a period of days, the less days involved or the higher price per click the higher the ranking. The more traffic you receive will increase the possibility of a sale and a click through fee in your account.

In short, Google's idea to market itself from the inside out has changed the way websites are doing business. Starting as an AdSense affiliate is a practical approach to making money using one of the hottest tools on the Internet today.

Labels: adsense, google, money maker, seo

The Advantages Disadvantages Of Internet Marketing are many.

A few Advantages Disadvantages Of Internet Marketing are:

• It's on the internet so it's low cost
• Very fast
• And you can reach a global audience

However it:

• Can leave the businessman feeling isolated
• Hard to tell if people are lying because you can't see their face
• And you can be overloaded with information.

There are more Advantages Disadvantages Of Internet Marketing, but I wont cover them all in one article. However I will focus on a few important ones.

Positives:

Low cost:

The internet is made up of electrons, so there is not really anything physically to grab hold of like in a brick and mortar business. This considerably reduces your costs as you don't really need many materials or buildings. Just a computer with world wide web capabilities : )

Very fast:

A great advertisement I saw once said "If you were an electron, you would be there by now". This was an ad at an airport. It's referring to the internet. It's made up of electrons so it's VERY fast. Click a link, and you could be looking at an Australian website, click another one and you could be in America. If you wanted to get information any other way from these countries, you may end up having to go there.The world wide web eliminates the need for this. Go any where you want with the click of a button.

You can reach a global audience:

By this I mean, you don't have to set up shop somewhere and sell to the locals. You can set up an online shop, and sell to anyone in the world. This means a huge increase in potential revenues and a fraction of the cost it would take for you to set up shops all over the world.

Negatives:

Can leave the businessman feeling isolated:

This is very common. Because the world wide web is faceless (In most cases), it can appear cold and inhuman. This can leave you feeling isolated and very inward. Not a nice feeling at all. Everyone likes to socialize and meet people, but in this case, its quite difficult to, in business anyway.

Hard to tell if people are lying:

There is so much information on the world wide web now, it's sometimes hard to tell the difference between crap and quality. A lot of the crap is targeted at newbies. Here's an example "Make money fast by doing NOTHING", sound familiar? I bet you've had a ton of emails saying something similar.

Information Overload:

Once again we get to the part of there being a lot of information on the world wide web. There can be too much good information too. There can be a lot of competition for an industry, this can leave you more confused than if there were presented with loads of crap. You might not be able to tell who to chose. If you are a veteran of the net, you wont have much to worry about, however if you're a newbie then this is a problem.

The above are the positive and the negatives. Overall, I would definitely say that if you can do business online, then definitely do it.

By Stephen Warren.

Labels: money maker