Top 10 Free Website Marketing Sources
December 12th, 2006
There is nothing more crucial to successfully bootstrapping your business than free advertising. This is my personal check list for every website I start. Not only will this drive traffic to your businesses web presence, but can also get you a free high ranking Google listing.
From what I hear, having a link to your website on the first page of a Google search is a good thing! To get that result for under $10 month well that’s just phenomenal. This is all done by simply piggy backing on sites that Google already loves.
YouTube.com
Make a 1-2 minute commercial for your service/product. People will bump into it here and there plus you can use it later for your website to have a rich media experience for your visitors.
Gcast.com
Make a free podcast about your service/product. Talk about features, benefits, how to use it, and have customers talk about how much they like it also.
Myspace.com
Create a business profile and interact with people. This is particularly great if you are in the retail industry. There are thousands of niche groups on Myspace find the one for your industry and introduce yourself.
Article Marketing:
This is where you can get your really high Google listings if done right. Write a 300-500 word article selling your service/product and make sure to use the right keywords. There are tons of sources out there that can teach you how to find and exploit the right keywords. That would be a whole other article itself. Basically, you just stick your keyword/phrase in the article title and throw it in the body of the article about 4-5 times also. Make sure to include a link to your site/s in the “about the author” box.
Isnare.com (Paid bonus features)
These are the only four article sites you should worry about as Google has an affection for these. The others wouldn’t hurt but also wouldn’t help much either.
Classified Ads:
Use the same concepts as article marketing and you can secure a high listing with these sites as well. The downside is that classified ads generally go away after 30-45 days. Some have a feature where you can pay a small amount of money to have it re-posted over and over again. Well worth it if you can spare the cash.
Backpage.com (Paid bonus features)
UsFreeAds.com (Bonus features for $9/month)
Well there you have it, my personal Internet marketing checklist. If you are not using any of these techniques you could be missing out on 100-1000 free visitors a day to your businesses web presence.
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Ten Things Every Marketer Must Have
December 9th, 2006
There are a few tools that are absolutely essential to any true Internet Marketer. If you’re a complete newbie listen up…I never got the conveinence of someone telling me this when I was coming up.
Here’s my 10 must have’s:
- Product to promote*
- Keyword Research Tool*
- Link Cloaker*
- Website*
- Hosting Account
- Opt-in List/Auto-Responer
- One-on-One Mentor for Advice*
- Statistics Software*
- Mass Promotional Tool
- Paypal Account
If you are missing any one of these and telling yourself you can work around it…god bless you and good luck. (refer to the title of this post) I’m just going to explain the list in order. There is a method to my madness, I promise!
Product to Promote:
Without a product to promote you can’t make any money, period. So I made this first on the list. When I look for a product to promote there are certain qualities it must have to earn my endorsement. These qualities are; current refund rates, quality of the products sales page, price fairness, recurring payments (monthly), and most importantly popularity.
If I’m going to spend my valubale time promoting a product, what good would it do for that product to end up getting returned all the time? I’m not in this for the quick buck. I want multiple, solid income streams that can sustain the test of time. If the sales page is sloppily put together and message not clear, then I will have to work extra hard…I don’t like working hard. I like working smart!
I always try to stick with a product that once I sell it to a customer it will continually bring in money. What I mean is, most ebooks you sell them to a customer and then it’s over you have to find a new customer. Doesn’t it sound better to sell a product to a customer and then continually make a monthly income off that same customer!?!?!
You should all know why popularity is so important. If know one is buying that type of product then why would I waste my time trying to promote it? Why reinvent the wheel? If you want to go out there and bust your buns thats fine, but thats not for me. When you go fishing you look for the best bait right? Same thing with Internet marketing find out what the fish are biting on and then give it to them!
Keyword Research Tool:
In order to get your product in front of the masses you will often have to rely on search engines. Search engines work by people typing in keywords or phrases that correlate to the object they are searching about. In order for your ad, articles, website to come up within the top listings you will have to research keywords for search volume, competition, and build a list of similar keywords.
I use keyword research tools to find my niche markets. I do this after I have picked a product to promote but before I commit to promoting that product. There is no sense promoting a product if the keywords for it get little to no traffic or have to much competition. I want to find areas I can dominate not compete for scraps!
Link Cloaker:
As Web surfers become more knowledgeable of how affiliate programs work, more people will omit your affiliate ID or use someone else’s ID when ordering. Either way, you lose commissions you’re supposed to get. It also decreases the credibility of your content as they will now know that you are “paid” to say nice things about that product.
Website:
At first you may be able to get by without a website, but be real with yourself how many top gun Internet marketers have you seen without a website? You will eventually need one to make the big money, why not start now? Start with templates and just cut and paste in your own content…I do this still and I’m a professional web designer. It’s just easier and faster this way. Once you have your website you can fully customize what your viewers see and hear about the products you promote.
Hosting Account:
There are places where you can get a website hosted for free, but you are limited by that “hosts” rules. Get your own hosting account and upload your website to their server. Once you do this you’ll be free from showing someone elses adds, be able to handle an unlimited amount of viewers, and viewers will take you much more seriously. Do what the big dogs do, don’t try to re-invent the wheel.
Opt-in List/Auto-Responder:
I have to admit this is something I was missing for a long time. I know now that it should be the first thing you implement on to a webpage and should be on every web page you create. An auto-responder lets you automatically respond to viewers that sign up for your email list. Most auto-responders have form generators so you can quickly and easily build a little form that will store the name and email address for you.
You don’t need any programming knowledge at all when you use one of these services. They give you the code and they tell you where to copy/paste it in. If you are not building an opt-in list (list of names and email addresses) you are wasting crucial chances to obtain customers for life. Just do it! When you have built your list into the thousands you can get paid to rent that list out, or submit special offers to those customers every month and have customers for life at your disposal.
One-on-One Mentor for Advice:
Anyone who has learned how to ride a bike from a book please raise your hand! I know thats kind of extreme, but I use it to illustrate a point. The best way to learn something is to have someone available that can give you customized advice as you learn how to hold your self up. You need to find someone that has done what you want to do and then ask them how they did it ask them to guide you in exchange for your assitance or money. Even Donald Trump had many mentors growing up. It’s just simply the quickest, easiest way to learn.
Statistics Software:
Now once you have most everything setup and are ready to drive traffic to your web presence, you’ll need a way to track everything that those viewers do once they get their. You will want to know how many people per day are visiting your site, where they came from, and what they clicked on when they got their. This way you can change or tweak things to persuade more visitors to come check you out or click the links you want them to click. If you’re not tracking your results then there is no way you can know how to improve them.
Mass Promotional Tool:
With Myspace and all the other promotioal sites rising you will need a tool to mass advertise to the captive audience that these sites create. These tools let you add hundreds of friends or send out hundreds of messages (advertisements) every day. Once you purchase one of these tools you don’t have to ever pay for it again so it becomes virtually free advertising. We all know free advertising is a good thing. (when used right) Make sure you are only sending messages to your target audience…otherwise you are wasting time.
Paypal Account:
If you’re trying to make money using the Internet then you definetly need to have a Paypal account. It is the most widely used way to send and recieve money over the net. You can even set up recurring payments if you plan to offer a service that charges monthly. Make sure to get a premiere or business account so you can take advantage of all their great features. This is also a great way to send money to family should you ever need to.
Ok, well there you have it. These are ten things that every successful Internet marketer is using, including the why and how. To thine own self be true; if you are thinking you can find a loophole and be successful without having these tools you’ll only be hurting yourself. Below I have included the sources I use to fulfill these ten requirements. I have done all the research for you to find the best prices and best of breed solutions. You are more then welcome to go find your own solutions, but hey these are right here for you and only one click away.
* = Wealthy Affiliate 2.0 has all these features built inside for an easy one-stop solution at only $30 per month. All you need is to sign up 2 recruits yourself and you’ll make that back. (extremely easy) Learn More…
Aweber Auto-Responder Service… I know it’s a weird name but these guys are the leaders in this industry. Their customer service still blows me away. They have a very quick response time to any questions and you can contact them live at anytime. They also have a free “test drive.” So you can try before you buy. Take me There Now…
1and1 Hosting Service is my favorite host because when you sign up it’s only $30 for a whole year and you get 2 free domain names with it. Then each additional domain name should you ever need one is only $5.99 which is cheaper then even the great Godaddy.com. This company is fast on the rise and making Godaddy shiver in their boots. Learn More…
Paypal Merchant Services I already described what this is and it’s completely free to get your account. Do it Today
BadderAdder Myspace Promotional Software is the only of it’s kind that you can use for multiple accounts and also gets by Myspace’s CAPTCHA so that you don’t get detected as a promoter. Check out their video tutorials before you buy…
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Wealthy Affiliate Video Review: transcripts
December 5th, 2006
Intro to Wealthy Affiliate 2.0
Hi everyone, its Justin aka MpyreDzirez. For the last 9 months I have been struggling trying to make money online. I went the first 5 months with nothing and was getting scared that my family would be right. Still I kept at it and now my wife and family are really getting excited. I only wish my son was older so I could start teaching him what I have learned recently.
Ok I’m getting kind of off topic and I don’t want to make his video to long. What you are looking at right now is the homepage that we members get to see. I did get special permission from the owners Kyle & Carson to make this video. I would like to thank them for allowing me to make this video; many people are going to benefit from it.
It’s not often that you can get a sneak peek into a member’s only site where the owners have spent so much time and money developing such a valuable resource. Ok well like I said this is the homepage that members see when they log on. It always has the most recent news that Kyle and Carson want us members to be aware of. If you’ll notice at the top left there is dollar sign with quite a few numbers behind it…
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Playing by the rules
November 13th, 2006
Recently there has been a lot of hype among young entrepreneurs about the top 25 entrepreneurs under 25 report, done by business week. I have heard on numerous forums people poking fun at some of these guys because their financial status is not what someone would expect to see on a top 25 list.
Being a successful bootstrapper is not about how much money you make. It’s about playing by the rules and having strong fundamentals. Without a solid blueprint and foundation, even with loads of money, people will not take your business seriously. Affiliate marketers deal with this all the time.
Playing by the rules means writing a business plan, tracking finances, and creating a system. Otherwise people cannot see the value in your business. They see you talking about making a lot of money, but they can’t see how, why, and if it is sustainable.
Sustainability is the key to your business success, if you or others cannot see it, then it is not there!
If you are interested in playing by the rules, start tracking your income and expenses. Save your business related receipts for tax time and maybe get a mentor. There are articles a plenty (allbusiness.com, entrepreneur.com) on how to find a mentor and I personally recommend the SCORE organization.
We are young entrepreneurs, so I know having a mentor can kind of bring us back to our school days when mom and dad would get us a tutor. Business mentors are not like that, anyone who is largely successful has had a mentor. A business mentor can help you write a solid business plan, market your business with the right perceptions, and hold you accountable to your goals. These are all very fundamental and essential issues you need to be dealing with.
Any one of us can reach that top 25 list next year, but only some of us will take ourselves seriously and play by the rules. What will you do in 2007?
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Who’s Coming With Me?
October 26th, 2006
It used to be that in order to make money on the web you had to have a specialized skill set. Thats not true anymore. Nowadays there are so many oppurtunities, and technology has advanced to the point where even web designers don’t need specialized skills. Everyone that I have tutored has been able to go from no web skills at all to managing their own portfolio of websites in less the 3 months.
Take a look at TCBoater.com, now mind you it’s only a month old so it’s not perfect yet. However, it’s nicer, and more functional then alot of other garbage that’s out there. This is a site run by an old high school friend that I recently bumped into again. She, Julie, was interested in running web businesses but always had to hire someone to build her websites. I showed her some free software that I use called Joomla, and within 2 weeks she was able to churn out 3 websites ready to start making profits.
Julie only does this work right now for herself. However, there is no reason she couldn’t start calling small businesses and start selling herself as a freelance web designer. I could see her getting $350-$600 per customer right now. I know because I was there and did this 6 months ago. I never teach anybody anything I haven’t tried and done successfully myself. I realize web design isn’t for everybody as it can be a little intimidating.
So what I have done for my sister, is showed her sites like eLance.com, GetaFreelancer.com, and Sitepoint.com. These sites are marketplaces where people ask for a service and freelancers all over the world “bid” on the jobs. Jessie, my sister, just had a baby girl a couple months ago and wants to be a stay at home mom. Today’s economy doesn’t really agree with that kind of thinking however.
I showed her these marketplace sites and how people will pay her to write various articles, short stories, jokes, and even some greeting cards. Now she says it’s no problem for her to bring in $300 a week, working whenever she wants. It’s not a fortune, but it’s all she wanted. Jessie knows that if she ever wanted to really go at it she could make as much as she wanted.
What if you can’t write? Well if you can’t write or absolutely hate writing like I do. Then you could try designing logo’s for businesses. 5 years ago you had to purchase fancy, expensive software like Photoshop. Lately, there has been alot of great open source (usually free) software coming out. These software applications almost always exactly replicate another piece of commercial software. Two popular programs are called Gimp and Paint.net and they can do everything that the almighty Photoshop could do.
Download one of these programs, then head over to 3DBuzz.com for some beginner training videos. These videos will be for Photoshop, but these open source versions are so similar that you will be able to benefit just the same. Mostly, the differences between these programs are buttons not in the same spots. After you have the basics down go over to PlanetPhotoshop.com and take a look at their tutorials. Print out a few and follow step by step with your new software.
This is great practice, and by now you’ll be so hooked on your new skills, that you’ll be yearning for more information. To polish your skills and quickly move up to pro level head over to PhotoshopTV.com. Where every Monday they have a new 30 minute episode full of video tutorials done by Photoshop legends. It took me about 3 weeks, a couple hours after work each night, to be able to start creating artwork that impressed people. Anyone can do this as long as their is a passionate drive to succeed. With just a small amount of learning anyone can make a living without ever driving off to a 9-5 again.
These are just a few of the ways I can show you how to make money online. Make sure you are subscribed to this blog so you can catch all of my knowledge. If you don’t know anything about feeds and RSS, I have a link on the right hand side to get updates via email just for you. Well thats all for today, stay tuned as the next post we’re going to get into starting a free online store and affiliate marketing made easy.
Onwards and Upwards,
Justin Brooke
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