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Guess what! A free lunch in most cases is
going to be just enough to get you by.....Just! And that's if you
are lucky. Consider these 5 Points of Thought.
Why is it the vast majority of us behave like sheep? Following the
mob grazing on the free lunch of free advertising, free hosting,
free search engines, free this and free that. We appear to believe
that by doing just a few things this way or that we will come across
this panacea of internet wealth. For the overwhelming majority it
simply wont happen. You will end up feeling ripped off and cheated.
In reality you have no one to blame but yourself.
It is time to think outside the square and remove your blinkers.
Human nature dictates that we take the course of least resistance.
Its only natural. Why do more than is necessary to get the job done!
Believe me, when I say "to succeed on the internet you have to treat
your website and affiliate programs like a business. Do that extra
mile with "PASSION"
Set time aside every day. Even if it is just an hour to manage your
business.
Never stop trying new things. Develop what works and discard what
doesn't. Keep working the coal face.
If you don't do this with your internet business it translates to
FAILURE.
You need to make a conscious decision to SUCCEED. It won't be easy,
but when you get there it will be sweet.
Bring the "Free Boat" into dry dock. You don't need to scuttle her,
just refit. This refit will make you a little different from the mob
and help distinguish you as worth checking out a little further.
We all know that part of the recipe for success is always going to
be site traffic. Not just any traffic! Targeted hot traffic.
Thought Point 1.
Have you ever seen any of the successful internet marketers
utilising free hosting services or affiliate templates that mirror
thousands of other affiliates sites for the same product? This is
not rocket science folks. You will sow the seeds for failure if you
take this path. Simply writing a few articles that direct traffic to
a free hosting site with the same page that you can see anywhere
will not get the cash register ringing. Most E-zine editors I know
wont even run articles that direct traffic in this manner. It
cheapens their e-zine.
Hosting is not expensive. Shop around. But ensure the provider you
choose is reputable.
As a shopper for online products I will always follow the link to a
site where the owner has invested more than just a little time to
post an affiliate page.
Thought Point 2.
Get unique text on your pages and optimise them for the search
engines. Tips for this can be found
here
It is vitally important that you use multiple mediums to promote
your online business. And it need not cost the earth. With the above
tasks completed get back to writing articles relevant to your site
and the products or services you provide. Take time to get your
resource box just right. A great product that gets my stamp of
approval is
ezine-writer.
Thought Point 3.
I am sick of hearing those with an axe to grind saying pay per click
advertising is a waste of time, effort and money. Bull! I have used
it to promote new products and services where I wished to gauge the
success of a new page. It can also be a great cost effective way to
promote your site. Google have a user friendly PPC service called
Google
Adwords. This service provides an effective method of
accumulating statistics that provide the most relevant information.
In turn this allows you to market directly to predetermined areas of
your website. Areas you know your target market are viewing. One tip
is to include incorrect spellings as keywords in in your PPC
campaign. They are cheap (in many instances costing only cents) and
you would be surprised how much traffic they can generate. You can
even use this method to generate sales that will pay for paid search
engine listing as you further develop your online business.
Notice here that one stage leads to the next. Start treating your
website like a business today. Write down your business plan. Follow
it. It will make your business happen. This is not a hit and miss
affair.
Thought Point 4.
Utilising profits is a great way to test the water. Don't get me
wrong! Google is a must have if you can achieve it. BUT, don't
pursue this path at the expense of all others. Ranking highly on
only one search engine (ie Google one of the biggest) does not
always mean the most hits. The internet marketer who limits
themselves to free search engines can be costing lost sales and
intelligent paid listings (not paid placement) with search engines
such as
LookSmart or Inktomi etc can have huge benefits.
Our research, experience and statistics in the past have determined
for us the use of Looksmart in conjunction with other engines such
as inktomi (where you can list as many or as few page URL's as
required at minimal cost) has the best productive results for us.
Thought Point 5.
In a nutshell think outside the square, visit other sites for ideas
and knowledge and if you aren't sure ask a question. You might just
be surprised with the answer.
copyright Vortex Media 2003
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