Don’t Go Broke Trying to Build an Online Business

Posted on March 25, 2011 by

Trying to Buy Success

Are you a serial IM product buyer? Are you spending cash hand over fist in pursuit of an ideal approach to implement your business idea? Do you have a habit of buying everything you can, hoping to find the one last piece of your profit puzzle?

If you’re spending a fortune on your business, you’re not the only one. Many IMers are on the buy-buy-buy-and-buy-some-more treadmill.

There’s nothing wrong with that, either. It makes perfect sense to purchase new information and products to keep your business rolling right along. There’s nothing crazy about acquiring new information and products in order to stay abreast of changes in the business. Making those purchases before you have a profitable business is a different matter, though.

Buying new tools to stay ahead of the games is very different from desperately making purchases in hopes of finding base-level success.

You want to spend your money the smart way. You don’t want to spend yourself into bankruptcy before you build a real business.

The Right Kind of Purchase

How do you prevent yourself from unnecessary overspending? The first step is creating a bedrock foundation for your IM business. If you look at the core of Internet marketing, it’s really rather simple.

You need a product to sell. You need a way to sell it. You need to bring traffic to your the site you’ll use to make sales.

That’s IM in a nutshell. Everything you do needs to strengthen one or more of those three simple core needs.

So, you must work to create a strong presence on all three of those fronts. Everything you buy should support your efforts to work on one of those three factors.

You need to build a solid foundation that will allow you to start making money online free before you begin worrying about the details. You can start experiencing real IM success after that foundation is in place. After you’re making money, you can being looking at those extras and adjustments.

Building a Smart Foundation

Getting the core of your business in place doesn’t require a massive investment. Here’s a great approach to getting the job done.

 

  • Learn how Internet marketing works on a holistic, big picture level. You need to hear, straight from the proverbial horse’s mouth, how things fit together and what really works.
  • Make traffic a top priority. Traffic is one of the three core needs mentioned above. It’s also the most important one you’ll address. Until you have adequate traffic, you won’t be able to find out if your products are attractive or if your copy is converting. You need to put eyeballs on your pages right away.
  • Find a source of ongoing assistance. A good ebook can be helpful. Instructional videos can really help. However, you’ll find more value in cultivating a good relationship with an experienced, successful IMer. Good mentoring increases efficiency, makes it easier for you to build a foundation, and allows you to avoid common mistakes.
  • Don’t overexpose yourself. You want to meet your objectives without risking significant losses. Avoid overspending on the tools and information you need to build your business. Find a way to develop a valuable relationship with a personal business coach or mentor at a reasonable price.
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How and why to build an email list

Posted on March 23, 2011 by

You’ve probably heard this common Internet marketing mantra a million times. The money is in the list. List building is one of the most effective ways to generate online home based business success. You must learn how to build a list in order to reach your potential.

Why it works

Marketing research reveals that most people don’t make a purchase after one exposure to a marketing message. Repeated encounters are a key to generating sales. You have the chance to share your messages repeatedly with those who are a part of your list.

People are also more likely to buy from those with whom the feel a trusting connection. You can use emails to your list to forge a personal connection. That increases your credibility, producing more sales.

How to do it

Internet marketing is a proven winning home based business for women or men when you implement a simple squeeze page. A squeeze pages has only one purpose. It should persuade the reader to become part of your list. Anything else is completely extraneous.

Most of the time, people encourage sign ups by offering a free gift to new subscribers. This is a proven strategy that you can use to spur the success of your business.

Having a quality inducement won’t automatically make your squeeze page a success, though. You also need to build your squeeze page the right way. We know that specific squeeze page techniques generate optimal results. You should adopt those winning strategies. That will involve closely following three important guidelines.

Squeeze page basics

First, keep your squeeze page free of any links leading to other sites of pages. You want people to sign up for your list, not to have them click away to something else.

Additionally, your squeeze page should have a concise, strong message. You want your squeeze page to generate those sign ups – everything else is extraneous and will decrease effectiveness. Don’t forget that your squeeze page only has one purpose – to build a list. Every word on the page should serve that function.

Third, you need to treat the sign up process like a sale – you must “close the deal”. Thus, your squeeze page’s sign up form needs to include an extremely strong call to action. Make it crystal clear that there’s a real value in becoming a part of your list.

Summary

If you’re following those three pieces of advice and are offering a smart “bribe”, you’ll have a successful squeeze page! You’ll be able to build trust and credibility with your subscribers. You’ll also have the chance to expose your subscribers to key marketing messages more than once.

You will take your Internet marketing efforts to the next level if you learn how to build an email list. The best marketers in the business rely on list building for a reason. The real money is in list building.

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Get indexed, get ranked, get traffic

Posted on March 21, 2011 by

There is no doubt that website traffic is critical to your business success. And the best kind of traffic is free traffic. Where does free traffic come from? Google and other search engines.

How do we get free traffic from Google?

You’ve experienced this process a lot of times. You load up Google or another search engine. Enter the words you’re interested in. Then you click on one of the pages that in displayed. Well, the link you clicked on just send free traffic to that website owner. So the real question is how you get that free traffic.

If you’re like most people you only click links on the first page or two. Actually, almost 100% of the free traffic goes to this first page of results. What’s even more amazing is the the first 3 links get more than 70% of the free traffic.

This means that to get any real traffic you need to be on the first page in Google. To do that, you need to be “ranked” in Google’s Top 10 results. Which brings up..

What is search engine optimization?

Search Engine Optimization means that Google thinks your site matches what people are typing into their search box. The intricate formula Google uses to figure this out is really only known by Google. But there are several things that we know for sure.

Getting indexed

Before you can get ranked, Google has to first know your site exists. This is known as being “indexed.” This is when Google looks at your site and take notes about it, which are stored in their database.

In order to get indexed, Google has to be able to find you. Links from other sites are the easiest way to accomplish this. Since some of these site will already be indexed, Google will follow the links on their pages and find you.

Twitter and Facebook updates are great places to put links to your site. Google visits these sites many times every day. So any new links will be followed right away.

Gaining ranking

Once you have been indexed, you will start working on increasing your rank. Google has billions of pages indexed, so just getting into their database does not mean anyone will see you.

The 3 factors in getting ranked:

  • Content
  • Links
  • Activity

SEO content

This is also called on-page SEO. It’s critical that your page content is consistent with the keyword phrases you’re targeting. Clearly this article is about search engine optimization. One way Google figures this out is from the fact that it contains the term SEO. But also because other related words like traffic generation show up in it, as well.

In addition to the content on the page, other things to keep in mind are the title tags on the page, and the domain name itself. Google uses all of this content to figure out what your site is really about.

Link juice

The next thing to consider is your links. The links to your site, as well as the sites you link to are important. It’s very important that you have more links coming in than you have going out. So the number of inbound links is important.

A very easy way to get a lot of links to your site is through article marketing. With this strategy what you do is write an article about the topic you’re targeting. Then create a bunch of different versions of it. And post unique versions to lots of websites that accept articles. And the more you do the better.

Getting activity

And lastly, it’s seems clear that Google expects important pages to be actively updated. Static pages that just sit may rank at first, but will fall off over time. Regular content updates to your site are expected. One way to keep adding new content it through RSS feeds.

Another great way to keep your page content fresh is to enable comments on it and allow others to discuss your page topic. To get comments from others, you need to get others to visit your site. One simple method for doing this is to use forums.

Create profiles on lots of forums about your site’s topic. Visit often and make posts. Then put a link to your site in your profile. This generates even more links back to your site. And it also gets people to your web page.

Conclusion

Each step listed above is critical. Unfortunately, rewriting your articles again and again. And creating a bunch of forum profiles. And posting your content all over the web is time consuming. And you’re already too busy, so you mostly likely will never do any of it.

Fortunately, you can get rank builder software to do all the grunt work for you. So, use your time wisely and automated to tedious tasks. This way you’ll actually do it. And not doing it means you will never get free traffic from Google.

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Sneaky Affiliate Tricks

Posted on March 13, 2011 by

It is extremely difficult to get started in affiliate marketing. The reason is because there is a lot of competition. What you need to do is come up with methods no one else is using. There’s also a lot of information out there about how to do affiliate marketing, so it can be confusing. But here’s one tip that almost no one is talking about.

Marketing with video

No one would deny the power and popularity of video. Video online is everywhere because people love it. It’s so much easier to keep people’s attention with video. So using it in your affiliate promotions is a no-brainer!

Here’s how to use videos for affiliate promotions:

  • Record your testimonial
  • Record a walk-through
  • Ordering
  • Do a preview video

Do a testimonial video

This is probably the easiest of all. Just turn on your web cam and talk. It doesn’t have to be professional or polished. Listening to your honest endorsement makes your viewers feel comfortable buying. And honestly, if you mess up it just makes it seem more authentic. You really can just click record and start talking. Use one of the other ideas if you’re feeling shy.

Do a video walk-through

This technique works slightly more subconsciously. Basically you’re doing a tutorial on how to use the product. And in the process you’re actually selling the product. As long as the product is good, the tutorial makes them want it. So, obviously, pick a good product to demo.

Ordering

This technique is super powerful. Record a video of yourself actually buying the product. Watching you make a live purchase will inspire your viewer like nothing else. In the first place it acts as social proof. People will feel more comfortable buying after seeing you do it. This also makes your viewers trust you. Your advice is easier to trust if they can see you’re doing what you tell them to do. And don’t forget about the need to “keep up with the Joneses”. People want what they see you getting. To really cap this one off, end your video with: If you want to see the inside, you’ll have to order it yourself.

Sneak peak

This one is perfect for building up the value of what you’re promoting. What you do is record a tour of the back end. And show them everything they get by ordering. And it helps soften the skeptics. Once they’ve seen the back-end, they know it’s real.

It’s easy!

You don’t need any special training for this. There are simple software programs that make it easy to create videos. The software really does all the work So please don’t let technical worries slow you down. Remain focused on the benefits:

  • More sales You will increase your affiliate sales when you start using videos. People love video, so please use them.
  • Reduce refunds You’ll also have less of your commissions taken back. Your customers will know what they’re getting into ahead of time. So they’ll be less likely to refund.
  • Rise above the competition! Adding video is so simple. But only a very small percentage do it. So, you’ll be way ahead of the crowd.

Take your affiliate promotions to a higher level and getting started with this now. The bottom line is that if you’re not using video, you’re losing money.

Posted in Affiliate Marketing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Email List Building Strategies

Posted on March 11, 2011 by

You need a list. That’s a given. This is the most important factor in your long-term success. After it’s built, it’s yours to use any time you want. It’s a resource you can tap at any time and generate income.

OK, but how?

Here’s what you need to build your list:

  • Your Opt-in Page
  • The Bribe
  • Your Confirmation Page

Your Opt-in Page – The squeeze page is the first thing your visitor is going to see. This is where they will enter their email address. So, obviously it has to be well designed. It’s also got to be free from distractions. And your call to action must be clear!

If you fail to make a strong close, you’re wasting your efforts. This is a definitive message that tells your visitor what to do. You opt-in rates will take a dramatic nose dive without it. Oddly, if you don’t make it clear, people will be confused and end up doing nothing.

One way to really spice up your squeeze page is to add a video to it. You only have a few second to get your visitors attention – video helps! It also allows you to tell them what to do several times. Then at the end of the video you can print “sign up now” on the video.

If you don’t know how to make video, don’t worry. Hiring out-sourced help to do it for you only costs $150 – $250. You can also find ready-made list building tools that give you squeeze page templates.

The Bribe – The next thing you need is an incentive to subscribe to your list. You have to give people a compelling reason to give your their email. Nobody likes spam, so most people guard their email closely. This means your bribe needs to be very attractive.

The key to a good bribe is that is has value. Then it becomes something people want to get from you. And will be able to actually benefit from it. Here’s some examples:

  • A free report
  • Software
  • Videos
  • A multi-part email series

Basically, you just need some content. It’s got to be something helpful for your new subscribers. And nothing sells like “free”. Bottom line is it’s got to be worth more to them than their email address.

Now, if you don’t know how to create the bribe don’t worry. Here again, you can hire freelancers to create this for you. Just give them a topic and they will write the content. For example, you could have them write a 5-part email course. You can have ghost writers create emails for under $25 an email. So, a great premium will cost you around $100 – $150.

There are also list building products that include the follow up email series. Two critical aspects of using a follow up series. The first thing is that it delivers value to your subscribers. And it’s nice if it earns you some money, too. ;-) Mixing some affiliate products into your email series is a great way to do this. This allows you to get started with no products of your own. And it enables you to generate cash right away from your new list.

The Opt-in Success Page – The “thank you” page is the final piece of the puzzle. This is where your visitor goes after opting into your list. It’s a great idea to give them some valuable information right on the thank you page. Then they feel good about giving you their email address. And it helps you establish the relationship. It also makes them more likely to open your emails.

Again, a simple solution to this is to get an email marketing package that includes everything. Or you can go the DIY route. And write it all yourself. Or hire ghost writers to write them for you.

In closing

It makes no difference whether you build your opt-in, bribe and thank you page. Or hire someone else to do it for you. Or if you get a ready-done package. The important thing is that you build your own list starting now. Once you’ve got it built. You’re free to make money at the push of a button.

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Affiliate Business Tips

Posted on March 9, 2011 by

Preselling for profit

The number one strategy to increase your affiliate sales is preselling.

First, what is preselling? Well, it is an art. And it’s also a science. And it’s function is to prepare your reader to buy something. Then sending them to the product sales page to make the purchase. And if it’s done properly, the process is completely sub-conscious.

Basically, you give them some content. Then send them to the sales page. In a second we’ll talk about how to do actually it. Before we get into that, you should understand what’s in it for you. Here are a few benefits of preselling:

  • It helps your reader trust you – Once you have your readers’ trust, they will click your links more readily. And the more traffic you can send to the sale page, the more commissions you’ll earn.
  • Preselling is disarming – When you’re not hyping or pitching a product, your reader lets their guard down. This means they are more open to what you’re saying. So your content get absorbed.
  • It puts them in a buying mood – Now they trust you and feel open to your message. Being open means, they are open to everything you give them. For example, the sales message on the page you’re linking to. And being open to the information there means they are much more likely to buy.
  • It increases your sales – They arrive at the product website prepped to buy. Open to the sales message and feeling safe. This dramatically boosts your sales rate!
  • Your customers are happier – People like to make their own buying decisions. Instead of being manipulated into buying. So they are happier with their purchase.
  • Your profits go up – A satisfied customer doesn’t ask for a refund. Which means you keep more of your affiliate commissions.

Clearly preselling makes sense. You make more money. And increase your customer satisfaction. That’s a clear win-win.

How does it work?

OK, now you understand why it’s so important. And hopefully you’re convinced you need to start doing it. You’re ready to learn how to do it properly. Like we talked about before, it’s an art. And it’s a science.

Part 1 – The art of it

First, you have to gain the trust of your reader, so they let their guard down. Honestly, the only way to do this is to provide real value in you content. But you can’t give them so much that they think they have everything they could need, and that’s what makes it an art. The idea is that they want more and the sales page you send them to gives them more. And since they’re more open, they are more likely to make a purchase.

Part 2 – the Science

There are also several key elements that need to be included.

One of these key elements is the presentation of the information. You need to know where you’re going before you begin. Your end goal is to make a sale of the product you’re preselling. You use the information to do this in one of two ways. The first method is to provide enough info to get them started, but not enough to finish. Or you can give them so much information that it feels overwhelming to do what you’re talking about. Either way, the product sales page solves the problem.

But you can’t link to your affiliate link. You have directly to the home page of the product. That’s because nobody likes to click on affiliate links. But, without your affiliate link, how do you get credit? This is all part of the science of preselling. You use the “covert cookie” strategy.

The next trick is to hyperlink specific words and phrases inside the content of the article you’re providing. Hyperlinked words are clicked more than anything else. Plus, if you link on relevant words, it only makes sense to click on there.

Using this system, you’re virtually guaranteed to increase your affiliate business success.

Now for the bad news…

This process is not easy – at all! Think about everything that goes into crafting an effective preselling article: Good content. First and foremost, you have to be able to write a great article that provides valuable information. This means you have to be able to write well, and have enough knowledge to be useful. Writing to presell. Yes, you must providing useful content. And you have to make the content accessible in order to provide value. And still leave them wanting more. Or provide so much information that they see how hard it will be to implement.

Choosing your products. After that you have to figure out which products you want to promote. Even if you get the article written. Your efforts are completely wasted if you don’t pick a winning product.

Technical skills. One of the keys to this system is using “covert cookies” for the tracking. This is actually pretty simple – just embed a 1 pixel X 1 pixel image and set your affiliate link as the “source” of the image. (But if you do it wrong, you won’t get paid for the traffic you send.)

Wrapping it up:

Now you’re armed with the information needed to effectively presell. Preselling properly will boost your affiliate profits up to 500%! So, start now and develop preselling content for all your affiliate promotions. Take action now. The effort it takes is well worth the benefits…

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Traffic Generation Tips

Posted on March 7, 2011 by

Everyone knows the number one thing you need to be successful online is traffic to your website. Obviously, this assumes you actually have a reason for wanting this traffic. What you do with the traffic when it gets to your site could be any number of things. So, the critical step is to generate a steady flow of visitors.

Let’s talk about how to generate traffic…

Here’s a short list of great, free traffic generating methods:

  • Web 2.0
  • Articles Directories
  • Video Sites

Let’s talk about each of these.

Web 2.0 Sites

By web 2.0 we mean any site where the users actually create the content. These are great sites to work with because they allow you to participate in this content creation. Because these sites get so much traffic, Google and the other search engines treat these sites with greater importance in their algorithms. The benefit of this to you is that your content is now considered as part of these sites. So, if you place links to your own site inside your content, you get a search engine ranking benefit from those links. The direct traffic from the Web 2.0 sites themselves is only part of the benefit. There are many more web 2.0 traffic tactics we don’t have time to get into here, but this will get you started.

Article Websites

The next thing we want to talk about is article marketing. This is because article websites are really web 2.0 site. In typical web 2.0 fashion, article sites rely on user-generated content (i.e. your articles). And because they are also considered authority sites by the search engines you get all the benefits of other web 2.0 sites just by putting your articles on them. And the hidden benefit here is that your reach grows as other people take your articles and put them on their blogs and sites. And along with your article, they have to include your author information and a link back to you – so you get more free traffic and SEO benefits. If you want to generate traffic from articles follow these steps:

  • First, spend the time to determine your keywords
  • Write specifically to target these keywords
  • Be sure to link to your site on the keywords you’ve chosen. Do this inside the article itself and in your author’s bio.

Video Marketing

The last of this group is video marketing. Here to we’re really looking at a web 2.0 sub-category. And it carries all the same benefits of article marketing. The extra top secret benefit of video marketing is that it’s much easier to rank for competitive keywords than in any other medium.

Here are just a few video marketing tips:

  • Set up your YouTube account
  • Turn off all the modules in your account profile
  • Put relevant “tags” in your profile
  • Make sure to include in your profile a link to your site
  • Add 1 or more videos to your profile
  • In the title, the description and the tags for each video, include your main keywords

Putting it all together.

If you want to get traffic to your site, then follow the advice in this article.

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Google Affiliate ‘X’ – My Unbiased & Honest Review…

Posted on March 6, 2011 by

Hi everyone,

It’s not often that I am asked to review products online, usually I just get offers to promote the “next big thing”, but today this post is very unique.

I have been asked by Ray Johnson & Robert Black to review their brand new product, entitled “Google Affiliate ‘X’”, so I’ll try to give you my most open and honest opinions below.

Google Affiliate ‘X’ is a complete step-by-step system in itself, and is one of the most unique products I have ever reviewed in the Internet Marketing arena.

The product consists of:

The Google Affiliate ‘X’ Software

The Google Affiliate ‘X’ Core Manual

The Google Affiliate ‘X’ Video Series

The Google Affiliate ‘X’ Traffic Siphon Video Series

The Google Affiliate ‘X’ LIVE Community Training

… plus a ton more cool stuff!

==>> Google Affiliate X

Ray and Robert have developed an excellent piece of software (at GREAT COST to themselves) which basically uses the power of FREE traffic to build micro-niche sites, and attacking covert, untapped buyer niches in the search engines.

The software is so simple to use and SO powerful. I had my first site making money in around 25 minutes from scratch!

Generally this is because:

a) The methodology works!

b) The tutorial videos are fantastic and really make you comfortable.

Once you’ve grasped the basics of the Software, the Core Manual, walks you through the methods that Ray & Rob have used to bank an incredible $209,176.23 to date since the creation of the method.

Next, the video series moves on to help you IMPLEMENT all the processes step by step, and are extremely detailed! There’s way too much to mention here.

I’m so glad this wasn’t some out dated course where the links don’t even work anymore. This is really cutting edge stuff, and Ray and Rob make it possible FOR ANYONE to make serious passive income in just minutes per day.

You WILL have to do SOME small work, but this is why the software is revolutionary, and not some junk scam/fad.

But if you can live with 45-50 minutes of actual work a day, you too could be living the $1,849.56 a day on autopilot lifestyle, (or more) just by bagging your copy of Google Affiliate ‘X”…

Aside from all the fresh stuff, I think my favorite part is just KNOWING that I’ll succeed online now, with a REAL method that works, and all the tools to actually make it happen… Refreshing.

All I have to do is follow Ray’s easy advice.

In all honesty, “Google Affiliate ‘X’” gets a thumbs up from me and I hope it’s still available when you read this so you can run over and snatch up a copy for yourself, you’d seriously be mad to miss it.

CLICK BELOW TO CHECK IT OUT NOW

==>> Google Affiliate X

To YOUR Success as always, and thanks for reading.

P.S. If you have experience of the course, please feel free to leave your comments, OH and Ray & Rob will give you $100 out their own pocket if you fail with this system for ANY reason.

==>> Google Affiliate X

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Membership Niche Selection Tips

Posted on March 5, 2011 by

Let’s talk about niche selection. This is very important to ensuring the profitability of your membership website.

First – Look for Fanatics

The first step in developing a profitable membership business is to find a market with fanatics in it. What’s a fanatic? It’s someone who is so excited about a certain topic that they will spend their time and money on information about it. Now that we know what we’re looking for, let’s talk about how to find them…

  • One simple idea that’s easily forgotten is to scan the magazine racks when you’re out and about. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to run a print magazine. So if you see one on the shelves you know they are making money, which means that there are enough people interested in what they’re saying to make it profitable. If they can make money in a print version, you can probably make money with a membership website.
  • Pay attention throughout the day in your regular activities. See what people are talking about on the radio, TV, at parties, in public, etc. People generally talk about things they are interested in. And this means there may be a market for information about it.
  • Conventions, clubs, and organizations. Once again, if there are enough people interested in a topic to create a club or organization, then there are enough people to build a membership business around it. By the same token, if enough people are interested to hold a convention on a certain topic, you can definitely find enough people to build a membership business around that same topic.
  • What about your interests and hobbies? Chances are that if you like a certain topic or hobby, other people do, too. Making money is fun and it’s even more fun if you can do it in a niche you’re excited about.
  • Google Trends. This is a great way to figure out what people are interested in. This service shows you the current most popular search terms. These topics are the hottest topics because lots and lots of people want information about them. Building a membership business around things people are actively searching for is a great way to ensure your success.

Next – Figure out if there’s money in it

After selecting a possible niche to build your membership site around, the next step is to find out if it’s a profitable niche to be in. An easy way to determine this is to figure out if anyone else is making money in this niche.

Here’s how to determine if you can make money in your chosen niche

  • Find out if there are blogs or forums related to it. Just search Google for “YourNiche blog” & “YourNiche forum” and see what comes up. This lets you know there is a market (a group of people actively interested in the niche.)
  • Check Amazon, eBay and Google Shopping to find out if others are making and selling products in your niche. If other people are creating and selling products in this niche, it means there is money to be made.
  • Look at Google Adwords for the same ads are running over time. If people are running the same ad over time it means they are making money in the niche. They would not continue to spend money on the ads if there were not making a return from them.

Step 3 – Determine ease of entry

Once you’ve found a niche and figured out that there is money to be made in, you need to determine if you can break into this niche. How do you gauge the ease of entry?

  • Figure out what kinds of products people are interested in. If it’s mostly physical products, coaching and live seminars, then it will be harder to break into this niche. The easiest membership website to create and maintain are information membership sites.
  • Competition. How many other people are trying to sell to this market? You want to start in a market that’s not completely saturated with competitors.
  • Size vs. Competition. Some competition is good. It means that this is a profitable market. And as long as the size of the market is large enough to support the competition, you’re fine.
  • Market readiness. Are people ready to buy? Are the receptive to marketing messages? Depending on the market it can be anywhere from a couple minutes to a many months between when someone starts the investigation process to when they actually make a purchase.

In Summary

At this point you’ve figured out what niche you’re going into. You found your fanatics, you know they spend money and you’re confident there’s room in the market for you. Now that you’ve prepared properly, you’re success is 99% guaranteed. How to actually run your membership website is the only thing left to talk about…

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Traffic is King, but this comes FIRST

Posted on March 3, 2011 by

Let’s talk about some powerful ways to get free and automated traffic coming to your website.

Traffic is useless . . . unless…

The first thing you need to do before you start going after any traffic is keyword research. Why? Because you have to target these keywords if you are to have any hope of actually generating traffic for them. This means it’s critical to select your keywords properly.

While doing your keyword research, keep the following in mind:

  • How competitive are the keywords you’re going after? This involves doing some competitive analysis to determine the ease of entry for each keyword
  • Are these “buying” keywords? Some keywords will bring lots of traffic, but none of them will buy. What you want is buyers!
  • Another thing to think about is affiliates. Generating your own customers is great – having other people do it for you is even better. So, it’s important to also target affiliates in the keywords you go after.

Of course, this all takes time if you plan to do it yourself. And hiring an expert is very expensive. The upside is that these two factors keep most everyone from even doing their keyword research. If you’re smart you will use website traffic software to help you with this process. This will not only speed it up. It will give you better results, as well.

Once you know your keywords…

Now that you’ve completed your keyword research, you can begin using these keywords to get traffic to your website.

Powerful Traffic Tactics:

  • Most people overlook the power of Surveys!
  • “Traffic Traps”
  • Video Websites

Surveys

The truth is that people really enjoy taking surveys and finding out what other people think. You can use this fact to provide “sticky” content for other website owners. They benefit by getting free content for their site and you get a link to your site under the survey. Think about that – you get website traffic for free just for making a survey! Using just this one extra idea will put you ahead of your competition . . . who think surveys are for gathering information! So, get creative and make up a survey that’s wacky to get other people interested in putting it on their sites.

“Answer” Sites

Sites like Yahoo! Answers allow users to ask and answer each others’ questions. But, like the surveys, that’s not why you’re going to pay attention to these sites. What you want to do is use these sites to generate traffic and leads for your business. One thing you can do is to visit sites like Craigslist and Yahoo! Answers and manually extract contact info to contact other users. The good news is that it’s easy to find website traffic software that can do this automatically. These tools put the whole thing on auto-pilot and just deliver the leads to you each day.

Video

No doubt you’re aware of YouTube and other video websites. These sites generate massive traffic and people watch over 2 billion videos a day on YouTube alone . If used properly, video sites can get you more website traffic than you know what to do with.

And don’t worry if you don’t have any idea of how to make a video. You can even take a webpage or article that you’ve written. Then simply record yourself reading the text and you video the screen with a simple screen capture program. You can even get software that will automatically do this for you.

The Bottom Line…

It’s not that hard to get traffic to your websites. Use your noodle and come up with things other people aren’t doing. You can even use software to automate most of what we’ve talked about.

Get started right away:

  • Keyword research first is key
  • Next, set up a survey or two with viral appeal
  • Build your traffic traps
  • And definitely include video sharing sites

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