If you’re starting an online business, it’s highly recommended that you understand how your readers, potential customers and visitors use the Internet. Of particular importance, is knowing exactly what they are using the Internet for.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every person who logged on had their credit card in hand and was looking for the exact product or service you were offering? Unfortunately, we all know that is not the case.

What most people use the Internet for is to get information. They are searching for answers to their questions or solutions to a problem that they most likely were unable to find anywhere else.

How do these people generally seek out the answers and solutions to their questions and problems? I’m sure you’ve already guessed that most of these Internet users rely heavily on the big three search engines; Google, Bing and Yahoo. Just about anyone who uses the Internet these days has heard of and in most cases has used at least one of those search engines and there are hundreds more available. However, all those other search engines combined don’t generate anywhere close to the traffic generated by the big three and Google is responsible for about 65% of all search engine traffic. For the purpose of the post, we’ll focus on Google.

As you are already aware, when a person performs a search on Google, they do so by typing in a word or phrase in the search box. The word or phrase they input could very likely be the key to your online business success. The word or phrase that this person uses will in most cases indicate precisely what they are looking for.

For example, let’s say that a person is interested in training their dog. If they were to type in the phrase “dog training” into a Google search, the search page will provide two things; paid and organic search results. See image below:



You’ll notice that the first few results at the top center of the page (with lightly colored background) and the column that runs down the right side of the page are sponsored or paid search results. Those companies have paid Google to have text ads with their links displayed whenever someone types in the term “dog training”. I’m sure it comes as no big surprise that these companies are all selling dog training products and/or related services.

If you were to perform this same search, you would also notice that the greatest majority of the page is displaying what is known as “organic” search results. What that means is, Google’s search engine has determined that those web pages are most naturally (organically) related to the phrase “dog training”. The phrase “dog training” is what’s referred to as a “keyword term”. Now you can see how important the keyword term is because the words “dog” and “training” are in bold letters in every search result, both paid and organic.

After seeing those search results, you can surely understand why it’s so important to research and identify the terms and phrases that a potential customer will use when they are searching for the types of products and services you are trying to market. If you want to maximize your marketing efforts, this is something that should not be taken lightly.

Once you do identify your keywords, you could try launching a paid ad campaign similar to the ones in the illustration above. This could possibly be an effective way to drive lots of relevant traffic to your web site or blog, correct? Unfortunately, the level of competition that’s competing for the same potential customer is extremely high which can cause the “newbie” advertiser and even those with experience to spend a lot of money with a very poor return on their investment.

It’s recommended that newcomers to the online marketplace would be better off waiting to do any paid ad campaigns until they are well established. Instead, it would be to their advantage to focus on getting the best organic search results for their web sites and blogs. This can be accomplished by using good keyword research skills and optimizing those sites accordingly.

The main purpose of this post was to give some insight on the importance of keywords and keyword research. In some future posts, I’ll provide more information on how to conduct keyword research and provide some free tools that will make the task much easier.

Do you research your keywords and optimize your sites for the best possible search results?

Recently, one of my readers said they were having problems driving traffic to their affiliate offers and that inspired me to write this post. There are many ways of driving traffic but I felt it would be most helpful to provide some of the easiest, most effective and free or low cost methods.

Knowing how to drive traffic to your web site or blog is absolutely necessary if you want to achieve any level of success as an affiliate. You might have a fantastic looking site, you may be highly motivated and you may have all the other necessary resources but without good quality traffic, you aren’t going to make much money. Don’t let all your hard work go down the tube because nobody is visiting your site.

Since affiliate marketing continues to grow very rapidly, the marketplace has become highly competitive and driving traffic to your web sites and blogs is more challenging than ever. Because of all the new sites that continue to come online daily, it has become more difficult than ever to stand out from the crowd. If you have the drive, determination and patience to stick with affiliate marketing and make some money, here are some of the preferred methods to drive traffic to your site:

1. Don’t waste your visitor’s valuable time
Now more than ever, it is extremely important that you understand and are very knowledgeable about your market. Your goal is to build a solid customer base by getting targeted traffic from people who are interested in the content and theme of your site. Provide meaningful content and you’ll show your visitors that their effort was worthwhile and they didn’t waste their valuable time by visiting your site.

2. Google is your friend
Some people make the mistake of ignoring the free targeted traffic that is generated from the major search engines. That traffic should never be ignored, in fact it should be relied on. By use of the correct keywords you should keep trying to move up to the top rankings of all the popular search engines. Obviously, the higher you rank in the searches, the easier it will be for people to access your site.

3. The pen is mightier than the sword
One of the most effective and proven ways to increase traffic to your site is by writing articles that contain unique and useful content. When a person reads a well written article on a topic that they have an interest in, they will in most cases visit your site to see what else you have. There are a multitude of places where you can submit articles and here are a few of the best: EzineArticles, ArticleDashboard and GoArticles.

4. Show some link love
Another great way to not only market your site but drive traffic as well, is to exchange links with other sites that are related to your niche. This is also an effective way to increase your search engines rankings. Your main task would be locating some popular blogs that are relevant to yours and contacting the webmaster requesting the possibility of a link exchange. Once you do establish communication, try to keep it on a personal level and work out the details of a link exchange that would be beneficial to both parties.

5. Yes, there is money in the list
One of your most valuable assets as an online marketer is a list of your own subscribers. I’m sure you’ve heard this many times but “the money is in the list”. Once you build your list, you’ll be able to call on them periodically to inform them about new products and services. Before you attempt selling anything to your list, you must build a relationship and trust with them. By utilizing your autoresponder, and sending some personal messages, you will be able to accomplish that. Your autoresponder is a must have tool to help keep track of and grow your list.

6. The joint venture
A joint venture or JV is described as a legal entity formed between two or more parties to undertake an economic activity together. Joint venture marketing can be one of the most effective ways to promote a product or service. Having a joint venture partner through a link exchange or ad swap can be most beneficial to both parties. When you have a joint venture partner, it allows you to reach a much broader customer base in a shorter time frame.

7. Your own affiliate program
If you are fortunate enough to have a product of your own, one of the best ways to get massive amounts of traffic is to set up your own affiliate program. By having affiliates promote your product and do the work, you allow them to drive large numbers of traffic to your site. Both you and the affiliates will benefit from this situation due to the increase in traffic and sales.

There are many other ways to increase traffic to your site such as; social bookmarking, free report or software giveaway, and holding contests. Traffic generation is something you need to focus on if you’re serious about growing as an affiliate marketer. Once you learn how to drive traffic to see your offers, you’ll be on the right track to becoming more successful as an affiliate marketer.

As an online/affiliate marketer, what do you feel are your best methods for driving traffic?

When first starting to build an online business, it can be both confusing and overwhelming. There are literally thousands of different opportunities out there and that does not make it any easier. However, if you’re aware of some common errors that people make, you’ll be able to avoid them and have a much better chance of succeeding.

I’ve compiled a list of the most common mistakes others have made so you can avoid them when starting your online venture.

1. Failure to plan is planning to fail
One of the biggest and possibly the most costly mistakes you can make, is not having any goals or plans. You must take the time to carefully plan how you are going to achieve your objective or goal. You need to treat this as a “real” business or you’ll never be successful with it.

2. The learning curve
All of us need to go through some type of learning curve if we want to achieve our desired results. We all learn at different levels so how fast you learn is really dependent on each individual. This holds true for any type of online business as well.

Since home based business is not a new concept, you’ll be able to find many proven models online. What you should do, is identify a business that you’re interested in and focus on that. Once you find that business, find someone who is already succeeding with it (you’ll be surprised at how many people are willing to help) and try to learn all you can from them. If you can duplicate what they are doing, you will most certainly decrease the learning curve. It would also be a good idea to join an online forum so you can get some support when needed.

3. I’m going to be rich!
This is probably the most common reason why so many people give up after a short time. They have the misconception that they will “get rich quick”. Nothing could be further from the truth, although some unscrupulous marketers will try to have you believing it. Success can be yours but it will not happen overnight. You need to treat your online business as you would any other. It takes hard work, dedication and persistence.

4. I don’t need any capital, it’s an online business.
How I wish that were true. A much more believable statement would be; “I can start my online business with a minimal amount of money”. It’s true that many free resources can be found on the internet, however, you still should be prepared to spend some money initially. You most likely have the hardware but you need a high speed Internet connection, domain registration, and hosting. To take your business to the next level, you may need to invest some dollars in advertising and promotion, as well as some additional software and training materials.

5. Who needs research?
Many people will start on online business or create a new product without doing any market research. Just because your family and friends think you have a great idea does not necessarily mean there is a market for it. This can be a big mistake that can cost you lots of wasted time and/or money.

You need to carefully research any product or service you plan to promote and determine if there is a market and if it can be profitable. There are loads of tools out there to help you determine if there’s a buying market for your product. Just by reading newspapers and magazines that are relevant can be a good indicator of what’s “hot” in today’s marketplace. Trends change rapidly and products that were in demand last month won’t necessarily be in demand today. Always try to keep abreast of what’s going on and be sure there’s a demand for your product or service.

6. Are you willing to make a commitment?
As I mentioned earlier, it takes lots of hard work if you want to succeed with your online business. If you’re not willing to make a total commitment to your business, especially during the first year or so, running an online business may not be right for you.

Each of us is motivated by different things. What is it that motivates you? Perhaps it’s creating a better lifestyle for yourself and your family, maybe an exotic car, a dream vacation, etc. No matter what your goals may be, always try to reaffirm and visualize them with frequency. That will help to strengthen your commitment and put you on the path to success.

I listed what I felt are some of the more common mistakes people make and I realize there are many others. I’m curious to know if any of you have made one or more of the mistakes I mentioned or a mistake I did not mention.

We all read about certain people who are very successful. Those people might include a business leader, an athlete, an entertainer, a politician or someone from just about any walk of life. Have you ever wondered how these people become such great success stories? Do you think these people have anything in common? The answer to that question is, absolutely yes!

I’ve always been fascinated by many of the success stories I read about and how they we’re able to achieve such great success. Many of those people inspire me and in some cases motivate me. What I’ve noticed about these people are the many traits they all seem to have in common. Here is a list of what I feel most of these people have in common:

Knowledge is power
Successful people are curious and always hunger for more knowledge. They never stop reading, studying or asking questions. A major difference between those who are successful and those who are not is the fact that they apply their knowledge and take action on what they learn. It appears that successful people want to know all they can about anything and everything.

Winners never quit
Just like anyone else, they have their failures but the difference is, they use those failures as learning experiences and do it better next time. Successful people continually work to improve themselves. They work on all details of their life including personality, management, communication and leadership skills. They refuse to accept mistakes. When things go wrong, they correct them.

All work and no play?
Not at all. They all work very hard but they also play just as hard. You will rarely hear any of these people complain about getting up early in the morning. They recognize that achieving a high level of success comes from hard work. These are people who expect a high level of performance from others but more importantly, they expect an even higher level of performance from themselves.

Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now?
They have a why not attitude and they are extremely creative. When others see problems or limitations, successful people see new opportunities and possibilities. They are always looking for ways to do things more efficiently and they don’t hesitate to seek advice and try new methods.

Networking
Successful people are great listeners and they are always willing to listen to their co-workers, friends, neighbors and even the local bartender. They are always networking and know lots of people from every walk of life. Successful people place a lot of value on their personal relationships. There is a great deal of mutual respect from all their friends and personal contacts.

It’s not your fault
You won’t see very many successful people wasting time complaining or trying to figure out who to blame. They usually take responsibility and move on. A large part of being successful is the willingness to take the initiative as well as accepting the responsibilities that lead to becoming a success.

Don’t worry, be happy
You’ll find that most successful people are generally relaxed and know how to keep things in perspective. They know how to keep things evenly balanced during the most difficult and stressful times. It’s not very often that you will see a highly successful person in a state of panic. Even during a time of crisis, they are able to make good decisions.

Living life to the fullest
Successful people seem to have the ability to look a person in the eye and listen to what is being said. They know how to enjoy things such as music, fine wine, a good meal or even playing with a child. They also appear to never be in a rush, yet they get so much done. Successful people don’t waste time and they take full advantage of each and every day. They always “live for the moment”.

Actions speak louder than words
When things aren’t working out as well as they should, successful people respond immediately and change it. If an opportunity presents itself, they act upon it. If one of their investments isn’t producing as well as they thought it would, they sell it. If an important relationship is dwindling away, they take the time to renew it. If a competitor or a new technology comes along, they make the necessary adjustments. The point is, they respond and do it quickly.

Somewhere over the rainbow
They have that uncanny ability to look beyond the horizon. What others seem to miss, successful people see. They observe and notice changes, trends and shifts. Although successful people live in the here and now, they always have an eye on the future.

None of these traits are inherited and every one of them can be learned. All of them are free and can be used by anyone. They all work together giving repeated success to those who use them wisely. Anyone who has a thirst for learning, the ability to respond to change, maintains strong relationships and builds a solid reserve of goodwill, has the requirements to become very successful.

Do you possess any of those traits? What do you think you need to work on to become successful? Please feel free to leave your comments.

The following article, “Become An Expert In Three Easy Steps”, comes from one of my favorite online marketers, Jessica Swanson, – “The Shoestring Marketer”. I found this to be a very interesting read and I’m sure you will also. So, without further delay, let’s get to it.

One of the threads that ties successful small business owners together is the fact that they are considered “experts” in a particular niche of their industry. As experts, they exude leadership qualities that naturally attract a base of loyal followers.

Unfortunately, this concept escapes many business owners who are desperate for success. They feel that they either don’t have an area of expertise, don’t have the right qualifications, or don’t possess a formal “degree” in order to effectively lead a group of people.

The interesting fact is that all experts, at one time or another, took time to “learn” their field. There are countless ways to become an expert in your field. Some small business owners go back to school for a formal degree, others attend seminars and workshops, while still others teach themselves.

Both Albert Einstein and Earl Nightengale declared that if an individual dedicates just thirty minutes each day to studying a certain topic, they will become an expert on that topic within one year’s time. Obviously, if you study for an hour every day, you can conceivably become an expert in six months time. Not too shabby!

Your expertise will be one of the most important components to the overall success of your business in the long-run.

Here’s a very simple three-step formula to develop expertise in your field:

1) Identify Problems.
First and foremost, you must find an area within your industry that is in need of expert advice. One of the simplest ways to do this is to make a list of problems that your customers and prospects face in your industry.

What frustrates or angers your prospective clients and customers? Do they need to lose weight? Are they sad or depressed? Do they need marketing help?

No matter what small business you operate, there are problems that your prospects’ face on a daily basis.

2) Research Solutions.
Once you have identified problems in your industry, begin researching possible solutions. Read online articles, visit your local library, attend classes, seminars and webinars. The main goal of your reasearch is so that you can eventually offer tangible solutions to your prospects.

3) Educate Your Prospects.
You can turn your knowledge into a special report, short e-book or 10-day e-course. The main objective is to offer your prospects a sample of your knowledge base. Once you begin packaging your knowledge and offering it to others, you’ll be surprised how quickly you will develop a group of followers that are eager to learn from you.

If you take the time to identify the problems in your industry, research the solutions and then educate your prospects, you will soon find that you have more business than you can handle!

As always, your comments and feedback are welcome and appreciated.
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Jessica Swanson, “The Shoestring Marketer,” has helped entrepreneurs, all over the world, explode their businesses using cutting-edge, proven and completely FREE internet marketing strategies. To receive your FREE Marketing Kit, which has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, just like you, learn the exact techniques for marketing their businesses for NO-COST, visit: Shoestring Marketing Kit

Although it appears mind boggling at times, getting high rankings with the major search engines is no longer a great big mystery. There is an abundance of information out there on how to maximize SEO (search engine optimization). Before we get into optimizing your site, let’s take a moment to discuss how search engines work.

When someone performs a search via one of the search engines, the goal of that particular search engine is to provide the user with the most up to date and relevant information. They use highly sophisticated technology to very rapidly find web sites that are relevant to the word or phrase that was entered into the search. Nowadays, people have come to expect results that are both relevant and up to date. If the results come back with outdated or irrelevant information, it is useless to the user.

If you want your site to get noticed by the search engines, it’s extremely important that you update your web site or blog with new content on a regular and ongoing basis. If you market any products or services online, it’s critical that you optimize your site in an effort to increase both traffic and sales. You need to do that because a large portion of your business will most likely come from search results.

These days, most online businesses utilize various SEO strategies to boost their site’s rankings and popularity. With the incredible growth of the Internet over the last few years, the competition to rank high on the search engines has become fierce and has created a tremendous market. Therefore, having a good basic understanding of what’s involved with SEO is critical to achieving a successful online business.

There are many optimization techniques that can effectively improve the rankings of your site. One of the most effective ways that will increase page rank is to consistently provide high quality, relevant content. While that may seem like a simple concept, there are quite a few sites that fail to provide their visitors with interesting and useful content. The sites that do provide interesting content that is well written on an ongoing basis, are the ones that not only engage their readers but they keep them returning. The key here is to try and set your site apart from the boring lifeless sites. If you can do that, you’ll have a much better chance to increase your page rank through effective SEO.

Another key factor to effectively improve your search engine optimization is to make sure you include the proper keywords and phrases in your content. The goal here is to make sure you are targeting your market correctly. You want to be certain the keywords and phrases that you use are the same ones that your site is optimized for and there are many free tools available that can help with that. Your visitors are more likely to find your site when searching, if you use more keywords in your content. If you consistently implement this technique, you will increase your page rank and optimize your search results.

It is also important as part of your SEO efforts that you develop a linking strategy. This accomplishes two things; it gives the impression that your site is pertinent and also provides some free advertising. Whenever you have a link that points back to you, it’s an opportunity for a potential customer to find you. The more inbound links you have pointing to your site, the better your rankings in the search engines.

In addition to all the methods already mentioned, you need to come up with a strategy for your content. People are always searching for good information. So, the more quality and useful information you provide, the more likely it will be that you gain a new prospect. There is no better way to build up your content than writing articles. Whether you have a web site or blog, try to develop a clear means of arranging your content. By building an archive of articles, you will draw more online visitors. It’s also highly recommended that you have a sitemap so a list of all your pages is accessible to the search engine crawlers.

Finally, remember that SEO is critical to building and increasing your site’s online presence. Always make sure that you continue to provide quality, keyword rich articles and link your site to other related sites. By following these methods you can improve your sites rankings as well as your popularity. That, in turn, will lead to more visitors and increase your ability to convert them into customers.

The SEO methods I covered in this article are the most common and can be easily implemented. There are additional methods that are more advanced and we’ll discuss those in a future post.

As always, your comments, suggestions and recommendations are welcome.

Most of us have experienced some type of failure in our lives. It could be a failure in business, relationships, achieving goals or just about anything else. The key is to view these failures as temporary setbacks and use them as stepping stones towards success. Those failures can be used as teaching tools that let you know what works and what doesn’t.

Are you a person who views failure as a negative or do you see it as something positive? If you’re like the majority of people, you do not like failure. The main reason why a great majority of people around the world don’t change their circumstances is because they are afraid of failing. Why is it that so many people people have this fear of failing? The primary reason is they do not understand all the dynamics involved between failure and success.

There is a wrong way and right way to do just about anything we’re faced with in our lives. Obviously, when we do things the wrong way, we will not achieve success but when we do things the right way, we achieve the desired results. Once we have an understanding of this, it removes the fear surrounding it and puts failure in it’s proper perspective.

In most cases, when a person meets with a temporary failure, they tend to give up and start thinking that they aren’t good enough or they will never achieve success. Is this really what it’s all about? Just because you don’t make it the first time, does that mean you’re not good enough? Does it mean you should quit because you’ll never make it? Absolutely not! What it really means is; you haven’t found the right methods yet.

What do you think your next step should be? What you need to do is go back and see if you can find out where you went wrong or made a mistake. You may need to take a close look at everything you did up this point. Talk to some successful people who have accomplished what you’re trying to do. Think of anything you might have left out. Then you need to give it another try but this time you are going try a different approach or method.

No matter what you do, you should never give up. Why should you keep on going? I think Napoleon Hill, the great author and mentor answers that question best when he said: “Every failure, every adversity and every heartache, carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit. Failure contains the seed of victory and great success.”

When you examine the reasons that you failed and are able to learn from it, you’ll be able to find the key to your success. As I mentioned earlier, failure is a tool that teaches what works and what doesn’t. I think the great Thomas Edison probably knew this better than anyone. Did you know it took him about 8,000 tries to perfect the Edison battery? His famous quote came right after that when he said: “At least we know 8,000 things that don’t work.”

If you want to achieve success, you need to be like that. All successful people have overcome some temporary setbacks at one time or another. The only time you really fail is when you accept defeat. If you envy people who achieve success early and easily, stop doing that. A success that is earned in spite of some earlier failures is much greater than if you get it otherwise. The people who earn success by overcoming obstacles and setbacks know the road to success and they aren’t afraid to lose what they have because they know what it takes to become successful. The few who got success easily really don’t know how to get there.

Don’t let those temporary setbacks and obstacles keep you from achieving your goal. Most of us have some hidden talents so start working to achieve your dreams and desires. Don’t let the fear of failing stop you from getting what you want. Remember, failure is your ally and it contains the seed of your success.

Do you have a fear of failing? Have you overcome some temporary setbacks in your quest for success? Please feel free to share your experiences.

CPA, is defined by Wikipedia as: “Cost Per Action or CPA (sometimes known as Pay Per Action or PPA) is an online advertising pricing model, where the advertiser pays for each specified action (a purchase, a form submission, and so on) linked to the advertisement.”

A simple action might consist of a visitor just entering their email address whereas the more complex action would require entering much more information with many fields to fill in. In most cases, these advertisers will pay anywhere from $0.25 to $4.00 for a simple email submission. The more complex forms pay much more and it can range from $5.00 to $40.00 and higher. The more complex forms generally come from credit card or insurance companies.

In order for a CPA affiliate to earn any money, the consumer is required to take some type of action. These actions can be something as simple as the consumer filling out a form to get a free sample, obtain additional information, download software or to receive a free product for a small shipping/handling fee. I’m sure you’ve seen these types of offers in your online travels. Many of you have probably taken action yourself on these kinds of offers.

Now, you may be wondering how you get paid and exactly how this all works. Actually, it’s pretty simple. If you are the person who is promoting the offer, you get paid when the visitor performs a specific action. For the purpose of this article, I’ll give you an example of an offer and the action that is needed. I’m sure you’ve seen those ads that offer a free laptop, a $1000 Walmart gift card or something similar. In order for you to get paid, the visitor needs to click on the banner or link and enter their email address. Once they do that, you get paid about $1.25. That may seem like a small payout but those are the kind of offers that convert extremely well.

The example I just gave is the most common type of offer and as I mentioned earlier, there are other CPA offers that have a much higher payout and will pay $5-$40 and higher. Those higher paying offers will require the customer to fill out a much more complex form and there could be a shipping charge involved.

As compared to traditional affiliate marketing, some marketing experts say that CPA marketing is one of the quickest ways to make money. They claim that you’ll see results much faster and in some cases, you can begin making money immediately. One of the big drawbacks to CPA marketing is it’s unpredictability. Even though a person can make money relatively fast, there is no consistency. Based on the needs of the market, CPA offers change frequently so you need to be ready for those changes and be able to implement them immediately. There has also been much discussion recently on the “dark side” of CPA marketing but for now, I won’t get into that.

Since CPA marketing can be so profitable, you’ll find that it’s highly competitive. There are some super CPA marketers out there that earn thousands of dollars per week and others who earn very little and give up quickly. So, if you do decide to give CPA marketing a try, be sure to read and learn all you can. There are loads of free resources, and online forums that you can utilize to learn as much as possible. If you’re willing to learn and apply the proper techniques, it is possible to make CPA marketing a rewarding venture.

Are you currently promoting any CPA offers or plan to in the future? What has been your experience with CPA’s?

The following is a guest post is from one of my favorite online marketers, Jessica Swanson of Shoestring Marketing. I’m sure you will find this article extremely informative and filled with great advice.

There are several steps that you must take to effectively market your business. If your ultimate goal is to be a master marketer and catapult your business to the top, then you must understand, memorize and implement every single one of these important marketing secrets.

1) You Do Not Need To Spend Money In Order To Make Money.
Nowadays, there are hundreds of places to market your business for zero-cost. In fact, I have utilized over 200 different free marketing platforms! The best news is that many of these free marketing platforms work better than paid marketing platforms. So, take heart in the fact that you can truly market your business for no-cost and reap huge rewards in the process.

2) Create Your Brand.
You and your business need to stand out from the crowd; ultimately, you want to be unforgettable. That being said, it is vital that you “create your brand.” You must take the time to create a memorable name, tagline, and logo for your business. Then, showcase your “brand” EVERYWHERE! As an example, I am Jessica Swanson, “The Shoestring Marketer.” I use this tagline in all of my social networks, emails, reports, press releases, ebooks, signatures, websites, business cards, etc. Whenever I have a chance to showcase my “brand,” I seize the opportunity!

3) Set Up Your Business Foundation.
Every business needs a solid foundation before marketing begins. Without question you should have a landing page with an opt-in form, business website, email autoresponder campaign, professional picture of yourself, testimonials and free samples (i.e. a special report, ebook, e-course, audio class, etc). It is vital that all of your marketing efforts point back to a solid business foundation.

4) Determine Your Niche.
If you are going to be highly successful, it is important to find a niche within your industry. For example, “marketing” is a huge industry with intense competition. It would be next to impossible for a new business owner to break into the general marketing industry. In my case, I found a niche within the marketing industry that was underdeveloped and needed exposure: free marketing. In most cases, the smaller the niche, the more successful you will be.

5) Declare Your Expertise.
No matter what business you are in, you must become an expert within your niche. Remember that when people make a purchase or request a service from you, they are interested in solving a problem. If you can effectively communicate to your customer or client that you are an expert who can help them solve their problem, they will be much more likely to do business with you and your company. So, flaunt your expertise and show your clients that you truly can help them!

6) Tap Into 5 Marketing Platforms (at first).
When you first launch your marketing campaign, you may be tempted to join dozens of social networking sites, utilize several different free classified sites, and traffic exchanges, while juggling press releases, articles and blogs. Always remember that if you become a “Jack of All Trades, Master of None,” you will be overwhelmed and ineffective. Instead, pick five marketing platforms that resonate with you and become an expert marketer using these. (I suggest Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube and Article Marketing.) As your business (and profits) grows bigger, you can add more. However, rest assured that you can achieve a great deal of success utilizing nothing more than five powerful platforms.

7) Be Consistent and Patient!
This is the most important piece of advice for anyone launching a marketing campaign. Good marketing doesn’t happen overnight. In order for marketing to be effective, your prospective customers must see your offer again and again. So, make a promise to yourself that you will be patient and consistent in your marketing efforts. Those that do, realize huge rewards in their business!

Again, all seven steps are crucial to your business success. If you understand and effectively implement these shoestring marketing secrets, your business will quickly rise to the top!

Are you currently using or plan on using any of the methods mentioned in this article? Do you feel these tips can be beneficial to your success? Please feel free to leave your comments below.

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Jessica Swanson, “The Shoestring Marketer,” has helped entrepreneurs, all over the world, explode their businesses using cutting-edge, proven, NO-COST internet marketing strategies. To receive your FREE Marketing Kit, which has helped thousands of entrepreneurs, just like you, learn the exact techniques for marketing their businesses for NO-COST, visit: Shoestring Marketing Kit

More people than ever are trying their hand at online businesses of one type or another. Most of these people are either trying to supplement their 9-5 incomes or in some cases, make it their main source of income. The primary reason so many people chose online marketing is because of the many benefits it has to offer.

One of the biggest reasons online marketing is so attractive is the fact the you can reach a world wide audience. You are now able to sell your products to anyone with Internet access. Having this broader market can ultimately lead to a larger income. Another reason this business is so attractive is the cost of setting it up is minimal as compared to a conventional brick and mortar business. There is also minimal risk involved with an online business.

Another great advantage of starting an online business is the fact that you don’t need your own products or services. As an online marketer, it is possible to make money by selling OPP’s (other people’s products). This is also better know as affiliate marketing. Using this type of marketing strategy is really very easy to get started with. Once you enter into an agreement with a merchant/vendor to market their product or service, you can start earning some money.

Affiliate marketing has become one of the fastest and most popular ways to sell OPP’s. For those of you not familiar with affiliate marketing, I think Wikipedia.org gives a great definition for Affiliate Marketing:

“Affiliate Marketing is a widespread method of promoting a website, in which an affiliate is rewarded for every visitor, subscriber and/or customer provided through his efforts. It is a modern variation of the practice of paying finder’s-fees to individuals who introduce new clients to a business. Compensation may be made based on a certain value for each visit (Pay-per-click), registrant (Pay-per-lead), or a commission for each customer or sale (Pay-per-Sale).”

You will probably find that most merchants provide their affiliates with resources such as banners, text ads, e-mails, etc. that link back to the merchant’s site. The affiliate will use these resources on their web sites or blogs to direct traffic to the merchant’s site and earn a commission if a sale is made. In most cases, the affiliate is paid an agreed upon percentage of the sale or a fixed rate as compensation for their effort.

Getting yourself set up as an affiliate marketer is quite easy. Basically, all that is required, is signing up as an affiliate with any company that offers an affiliate program. You can also sign on as an affiliate with some of the larger affiliate programs such as ClickBank, Commission Junction, Share-A-Sale, and Plimus. With these companies you have the ability to promote many different products or services through one network. Becoming an affiliate is usually free with most companies but there are a few who do require a fee. The reason they charge a fee is because of some additional resources and tools they offer that may help your online business.

As I mentioned, signing up as an affiliate is easy. Generally, all you need to do is; fill out a short form which contains information about yourself. Several programs may want the URL of your site with a brief description. They require this so the merchants have the ability to verify that you really do have a site and your content is relevant to their products and services. There are also many programs that do not require you to have a web site or blog. Once you complete their form, you should get approved in a very short time…sometimes instantly. You can start browsing through the products and pick the ones you want to start promoting.

Now that you’ve become an affiliate, the real challenge begins. You’re all pumped up and ready to start making some money…right? Well, I’m not going to mislead anyone and tell them that making money as an affiliate is easy. Yes, there are people who do very well and make lots of money but that’s not the norm. In fact, less than 5% make serious money. If you’re not willing to put in some hard work, be patient, dedicated and motivated, affiliate marketing may not be right for you.

So, how do people make money as affiliate marketers? Actually, there are several ways affiliates earn money and it usually depends on the various types of programs they’re associated with. Generally, there are three ways affiliates are compensated.

1. PPS (pay-per-sale) With PPS, the affiliate gets paid only when the potential customer makes a purchase.
2. PPC (pay-per-click) Affiliates are compensated for each referral that is directed to a merchant’s site.
3. PPL (pay-per-lead) In a PPL program, the affiliates are paid a fee when the referral is converted to a lead for the merchant. This is common with credit card and insurance companies.

There are also programs known as a two-tier programs. In this type of program, the affiliate is compensated for their sales and is also allowed to recommend affiliates to the merchants. When the recommended affiliates make sales, the affiliate who recommended them earns a commission on those sales as well. In the long run, this type of program can be very lucrative.

Last but not least, are the residual affiliate programs. With this type of program, affiliates earn commissions over and over as long as the customer continues on with the merchant. An example of a residual type program would be web hosting or a membership site where the customer is required to make a monthly payment to continue receiving services. Each month that the customer makes a payment, the affiliate is compensated.

As you can see, there are many options for an affiliate to make some money. It’s no wonder that affiliate marketing has become so popular. It’s an easy business to set up and the cost and risk factor is minimal. With regard to how much money an affiliate can earn, it’s all dependent on the individual. Many people get into the business of selling OPP’s with lots of excitement and enthusiasm but they give up to easily because the money don’t start coming in right away. If you’re a person who’s willing to put in the time, work hard and take action, you have the ingredients to become a successful affiliate.

Are you currently selling OPP’s? Which programs have you had any success with?