Archive for Internet marketing
Using TipDrop to Make Some Extra Money…
Posted by: | CommentsAs always I was reading emails this week and I had an interesting email come in that stated something along the lines that "It’s impossible to make money without a website." This statement is simply not true. If it were then all of those PPC players who don’t have websites wouldn’t be making money.
However, PPC is not for the faint of heart and you have to know what you’re doing. When you’re first learning you’re also probably going to lose money. So for now let’s avoid PPC – I want to talk about a cool way to make some extra cash without spending any money and without a website.
Keep in mind you need an ADSENSE account to do what I am going to show you. So this means at some point you need a website to get approved for Adsense. However, once you’re approved with Adsense you won’t need a website for the next part. If you have no clue how to build a website grab a free copy of Train Me To Blog right here and I’ll show you how for FREE (it only takes about an hour).
Before I get going with this in case you’re wondering this is not what I’ve already taught you guys in www.megaclassifiedmillions.com so all those who thought I was going to go over classified ads bear with me – I’m not.
What we are going to be doing is creating a tip sheet at TipDrop.com and it will literally only take you about 5-10 minutes to have one created.
#1. OK, first what you need to do is head over to TipDrop.com and sign up for a FREE account.
#2. Next, you need to have an idea of what to write in your tip sheet. One of the easiest ways to do this is to head into your free Google Keyword Tool and search for terms like "How To" ,"How Many" , "top 10", "Best Ways to", and similar phrases that basically ask questions.
People often search the internet with questions like that and usually there is not much competing web traffic for questions. If you need more help on how to do keyword research visit my Keyword Research Post Here and also This Keyword Research Post.
#3. Creat your tip sheet based on your keywords. The title should contain the keywords. For instance if you found "How Do You Bathe a Cat?" those keywords should be your title.
#4. Next, you can enter your first tip. Make it a good tip that is going to help your reader.
#5. Add additional tips to your tip sheet. You can view my latest one on Learning Email Marketing Here.
#6. Next, you need to head into your "Settings Page" and add your Adsense Pub ID. This can be found at the toop of your Adsense account.
Adding your idea is how you’re going to get paid. Basically, what happens is anytime someone clicks on the Adsense in one of your tip sheets you get paid 75% of the Adsense click price. Pretty cool – wouldn’t you agree?
As more people add there tips and people rank individually tips on your tip sheet – your sheet becomes more popular. The more popular your tip sheet becomes the more exposure you’ll get. Easy enough?
Also your tip can be found in the search engines which means when people search for your Title it’s possible you’re tip sheet will turn up. Over time as Tip Drop becomes even more popular tips will likely rank even easier in the search engines. Keep in mind you can also build links to your tip sheet to make them gain popularity in the Search Engines. 
HINT HINT.
Additionally you can go into your settings and add links on the right hand side of the page. Keep the links relevant to whereever you’re sending someone. This can work great if your promoting affiliate programs as well.
Let me know what you think or if you’ve already got some experience with www.tipdrop.com and if you’ve had any good results.
Use Answer Sites For Traffic
Posted by: | CommentsI wanted to do another post for how to generate traffic since that seems to be the thing people struggle the most with. In case you missed last week’s free traffic building example see it here. Today I want to show you another really easy way to use Answer Sites to make money and build traffic at the same time.
So what are answer sites? You probably are most familiar with Yahoo Answers but, basically what happens at answer sites is someone asks a question seeking answers. Then people will post an answer the posters questions. The originally poster will then select the answer they like best.
I use them a lot for marketing my own business and my own affiliate products and sites. Many people have thought answer sites to be a waste of time but I’ll have to admit it’s truly a marketers dream.
Here’s why.
The hottest prospects are those who ask question and are actively looking for a solution. People looking for a solution usually will spend money to get it.
When someone needs a solution and you give them an educated answer you’re more likely to see that person visit your site. If your site has a product (whether yours or an affiliates) that will help them – they are very likely to buy and your answer could very well presell them.
This makes answer sites a real gem.
If you log into http://answers.yahoo.com or make a new account there if you haven’t yet, it’s free.
Next, use the search menu to look up keywords based on your niche. For instance if you’re in the iguana care niche then you might type in something like "Iguana" or "pet iguanas".
(TIP:) When you’re going to search click the little advanced button. Then, type in your keywords and go down to an area where you can select OPEN QUESTIONS. (shown below.)
This will allow you to find and answer only questions that have not been resolved. This is helpful because you cannot post new answers to closed questions.
Next, simply browse the list of questions and start answering away. Keep your answers on point and never include URL’s in the body of your answer. Put the URL in the reference/resource box. If you put the URL in the body they Yahoo Answers isn’t a big fan of that and might give you an infraction.
Another important thing to do is to make sure your answer is thorough and well thought out. The best answers are the ones that are explained in simplified detail that actually helps the person asking solve their problem. After their problem is solved they are likely to see you have a link in your resource box. Other people who find this question will be interested in your answer as well and may visit your site.
Make sure you use your keywords throughout your post and other linking words to help this question be more easily found in the search engines and the Answers search engine.
If you are voted and receive the BEST ANSWER your answer will show above everyone else’s answer.
Now if you’re wondering where all the traffic is going to come from it’s simple. The traffic will come from people browsing the answer site and of course through the search engines like yahoo, MSN and the Google. Many times people will search in Google and the other search engines with phrases like "how do I", "how can I", "why" etc. People will basically search in questions which will often pull up (you guessed it) answer sites question in the search engines.
Once a person visits that page at the answer site they are likely to see your answer and resource site listed there. 
Now go put this to use for your business or website and watch interested prospects start coming to your site.
Here are a couple of the most well known answer sites.
#1. http://answers.yahoo.com
#2. http://askville.amazon.com/
Let me know your experience with answer sites below. If you need any help or have any questions – leave them.
Finding Your Traffic With Articles
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the biggest keys to success for your online business, products or affiliate sites is finding your traffic. The reason I say finding your traffic is because often times people think that doing nothing will bring great results.
While there are many ways to gain traffic I want to share some easy to use tips today for using articles to find traffic sources. While this technique isn’t new or some earth shattering revelation…. many people are not using this technique.
For this example we are going to assume you’re in the dog drooming niche.
OK, the idea we are going to use here is to get your article viewed by more people. First, if you’re unsure what to write about in your niche you’ll want to do some research.
FIRST: Go to www.ezinearticles.com
#1. Type your keywords in the search bar.
#2. Browse the articles in the database.
Simply click on one of the articles that comes up (or all of them if you’d like) to see how many searches they are getting. If you can find several articles getting a decent amount of article views chances you’ll want to look at what keyword phrases they are using. For instance if your main keywords are Dog Grooming but you see an article for Dog Grooming Kits Online you might want to figure out if they are getting traffic for Dog Grooming Kits instead.
So how do you do that?
Simple. Open up your browser to www.google.com and check. Most of the traffic to articles comes from natural search engine rankings (usually).
Inside Google simply type in "dog grooming". If that doesn’t return any results for an Ezine Article then type in Dog Grooming Kits. If that brings up the keyword results then you know that they are ranking for those keywords.
Next, simply write a similar article (do not copy them or write anything too similar but use similar keywords). I like to write most of my articles at 500 words or more but I’ve found hundreds of barely over 300 words ranking well (like top 5) on Google.
Make sure your resource box has links going back to your site where you want people to either click you affiliate links or adsense banners.
That’s it! Pretty simple and easy.
Let’s look at a couple other things though. I like to give my articles a boost by writing an additional article and pointing it from other article directories to article I want to rank high in Google. I simply write another similar article that and add it to a few other top directories (www.goarticles.com , www.articlealley.com, www.buzzle.com – will do). Inside the resource box from that article I put a link with slightly varied anchor text pointing back to that original ezine article I wrote. This will give you some extra juice in Google.
What I like tyo do is fire up my copy of Niche Research Commando and check that original article I want to compete with (the article we originally found in the search engine "dog grooming kits")
Inside Niche research Commando I just type in the keywords (dog grooming kits) and then start and within as few seconds I’ll be able to see all the backlinks going into that article. This will allow me to decide if I need to promote more links pointing into my article or just a few. If they have no backlinks I’ll usually just put only one article into 3-4 other article directories with a link going back to my article I want to rank for.
It typically doesn’t take long for Google to pick up my article and for it to start climbing the ranks in the search engine.
I’ll probably do a follow up to this post later this week as this is just the surface. in fact, there is so much more you can do here. But, for most people reading this, this is a great start to getting more results from your articles.
Let’s recap what to do.
#1. Search ezinearticles.com for you niche keywords.
#2. Look to see if the articles are getting views.
#3. Find a few getting the most views.
#4. Determine if that article is ranking for the main keywords or some other keywords.
#5. Search Google to determine.
#6. Write a similar article. (includes links to your site in the resource box).
#7. If you own Niche Research Commando fire it up and check for backlinks. (optional)
#8. If article has low backlinks you’ll only need 1-2 articles written.
#9. Write the additional articles and upload them to some high PR article sites (shown above.)
#10. Make sure the article points back to your article that you want to rank. (Vary the anchor text – don’t just use one phrase).
#11. Repeat if you want to do more. ( You should want more )
This works great for users of www.nicheblitzkrieg.com and www.megaclassifiedmillions.com as well.
You can do this in any niche and it’s an easy way to generate some more traffic to your site or affiliate sites. Leave you comments, questions or any further ideas below. Already using this technique? Tell us your results.
Why Even Bother With Email Marketing?
Posted by: | CommentsBefore you start don’t mind the blog to much right now I’m in the middle of upgrading it. Soon it’ll look pretty cool.
A few months back before I began work on my latest course called "The Email Initiative" I polled several people in affiliate marketing, business owners, product creators and blog authors to see what they thought about email marketing. An alarming 95% had no idea what I was even talking about. Much of the other 5% had little to no success and under 1% said they do it regularly.
So that made me think how can I explain to someone the importance of email marketing? Is it enough to point out it’s one of the biggest factors that I achieved some nice success in a short amount of time? I mention in my video I created to teach people about it (Found right here) that it can triple a marketers income or virtually change their life… none of which is far fetched.
Everyone should be using email marketing no matter what business they are in.
Let me start with an example of an affiliate marketer. Imagine that you have a small website and to that website you have regular visitors coming in. Let’s say it’s just 500 visitors per month.
500 is not many but what if I told you that within 6 months you could an email list built with 500-1000 members on it?
Would you do it? Maybe maybe not…..
But, what if I told you from that small list you built that you could potentially make thousands? That’s more like it, right?
Well that is the reality of email list building and marketing. The idea isn’t like what you may have heard before, you know what I am talking about: "You need a huge list to make money" or "the money is in the list".
You can make money with a small list and in fact GREAT money and the money isn’t in the list – but in how you treat that list. So basically, the money is in you.
I have a pretty good relationship with my list. Some of my members I’ve talked to on the phone, many send me regular emails, most have at least one product of mine and in fact, I can’t even count how many people sent me well wishes after getting a horrible flu in the middle of the summer. It’s a pretty awesome feeling to know that not only do I give them respect but they give me respect back and we all benefit. I help them grow their business they help me grow mine.
But, that poses a question I’ve answered numerous times "Michael, you run a business teaching people how to grow their businesses but what if you’re in the (insert niche) market? Can email marketing still work?"
YES. It works in any market and here’s why.
Everyone is looking for something online and they typically want help in their quest. Whether they are looking for information, product shopping, comparing prices, or simply need help. Everyone needs something when they are searching.
So if someone happens upon your site where they are looking to buy a new bread maker and you have an article or information about how to buy a new bread maker don’t you think they’ll take notice? What if you have an email opt in form on your site that said "FREE BREAD RECIPES Just enter your name and email below and we’ll send you a 7 day email series of over 50 bread recipes you can use in your new bread maker." How likely is that person to opt in? I’d do it and I bet many others would to. Statistics of my own also prove me right.
Now imagine you’re helping that person but what if after that email series you send them a recommendation for even more recipes which is a $29.97 book on Amazon that you make commission off of and help that person in the meantime? Win/win. That’s how you have to look at email marketing.
I can’t tell you how many times you land on some "Guru" list where all you get is one solicitation after another. This technique works for them because they have volumes of people who are sacrificing their list for their cause because they are both lining their pockets. I’ll tell you you should avoid using those techniques. Instead help your list first, recommend later and only recommend things that will truly help them.
Imagine if you were on a list and every couple days you got a message that said "Wow – this is going to make you $10,000 next month!" Then in a couple more days "Are you ready to make Thousands with the best program ever?" Only to find a a week later another email from the same person that says "This is the most important program you’ll ever see?" All three email promoting different products with the same language. How likely are you to stay on that list?
Now don’t get me wrong there might be times where you’ll have a higher % of promos than you usually do. But, the good advice should outweigh sales pitches. In fact, sales pitches are over used and recommending is a much better technique in any event.
These same set of rules apply to any niche market as well. So give your list the good stuff and keep giving it to them and they’ll love you for it.
I want to close with some tips.
#1. If you haven’t started an email list for your niche START ONE. You can watch my vid and get my entire course on the subject for $1.
#2. Give your list what they want. Value them.
#3. Don’t sell them and it’s best if you can recommend only things you’ve used if possible. This way you can give them the most accurate truth on the products.
#4. If they send you an email back – answer it if possible. I know it can be hard sometimes but if you’re recommending something the best thing to do is to respond if they have questions. A side note: when someone sends me a message asking me a question about a product I recommend or even my own they almost always BUY. Of course if it meets their needs they will buy if not, they won’t.
#5. Be truthful. I’ve turned down a lot of business over this one. But, someone asked me one time if they would be able to make $10,000 a month online in 2 months with one of my products. While that’s possible it certainly isn’t the norm and if I had said yes and he went on to buy he would have likely been disappointed. Even if you’re promoting affiliate products (in any market) be upfront about it. This will help build your reputation and they will tell their friends and builds a loyal following based on trust. Plus, you’ll sleep better at night.
#6. Start a list!
#7. Start a list!
#8. OK, you see where this is going. But, you have to take action and start for this thing to work. Start small and grow. Even a small list can make you a lot of money. Go watch my video if you haven’t yet and see what I am talking about.
