Forums Drive Traffic to Your New Website

One of the most positive benefits of the internet is the scope to communicate at no cost with anyone who shares your interests and views, wherever they live in the world. Online forum sites provide a channel for this interchange, and there are many thousands of sites, most of which are free to join. They cater for myriad niche interest groups, allowing the enthusiast to find answers to questions or exchange ideas. This offers a good opportunity for webmasters to promote their website as a spinoff to their participation in the forum, ad it can generate significant quality traffic to the website.

There are six elements to successful Forum use for webmasters:

1. Be helpful and informative in the forum, even if you disagree with the other person’s point of view. Always preview your contribution before posting it, and delete anything that could remotely cause offence. Remember also that others may not share your sense of humour so save the witty remarks for your family. If you are seen to be patient and constructive, other contributors will take more notice of your posts.

2. You need to be available – if you are serious about being a presence in a forum, aim to visit regularly. Frequent contributors will be posting questions every day and your reputation will benefit from showing prompt answers. Be sure to subscribe to the psts you are involved in, it will save you time when you return.

3. Give a considered, helpful response: others will answer the same question, but a well-written and supportive contribution marks you out as a trusted authority. The questioner is more likely to praise you and pass on your links as a result.

4. Active contributors get noticed. By being available and giving helpful answers you show you are reliable and well informed. Make your answers as brief as possible and they are more likely to be quoted.

5. Use your Signature Box to good effect, to show your status on the web and direct visitors to your targeted web pages. Your email address and website link will drive interested visitors to your sites. And check it regularly to make sure your links are up to date.

6. Whenever you post useful information, try to incorporate a natural reason for the reader to visit your website. If you are giving information on picking the right dog or puppy, give a brief answer and point to your site for more detail. This is known as in-context linking, which can help improve your forum and website rankings in comparison with others.

Start work now on your forum posts, make them informed, relevant and fairly businesslike. Forums are not matrimonial agencies: your new online friend may not be displaying a recent likeness. Be particularly cautious if it is a wedding photograph!

Adrienne Davis runs Brilliant4Biz and has extensive experience in marketing, business start up, training and employment law. She publishes a regular FREE Ezine – see details below. Get unbiased advice from Adrienne on working at home, business ideas and affiliate programs. See which ideas work and avoid Internet scams. Don’t miss Kevin the Collie's Dog Life Blog.

21 Adwords Powerpoints

Google AdWords can be a great source of traffic. It can also be an expensive experiment gone wrong. When running a Google AdWords campaign it is important to do things the right way. This will help insure the profitability and success of your campaign.

The following is a list of best practices I call the 21 AdWords Power Points. Read them, print them out and keep them handy for future reference.

1. Be very targeted, not general, in every aspect of your campaign.

2. Always send the surfer to a targeted landing page.

3. Think like your potential customer. What's in it for her?

4. Think like your potential customer. What would your customer search to find you?

5. A few good highly targeted keywords are worth more than a thousand general ones.

6. Use AdGroups to advertise in a very targeted way.

7. Always use negative keywords. Study the top 100 search results to find negative keywords.

8. Constantly manage your campaign. Don't expect it to run itself.

9. Be flexible in your bidding. Top position doesn't always mean best performance. Sometimes #3 or even #5 or works best.

10. Focus on conversions. A lot of clicks doesn't always mean a lot of sales. Don't attract the wrong crowd.

11. Concentrate on CTR. When a campaign is new, establishing history is essential to the success of a campaign.

12. Use match types effectively. Exact match works better than broad match in some situations. Make sure you test often to know which match type works best for your campaigns.

13. Make sure your landing pages download fast and are usable.

14. Make sure the landing page sells. The user should find it immediately obvious why they were sent there. The landing page must convert for your campaign to succeed.

15. Always use a call to action in your ad and landing page.

16. If selling on price, include that in the copy.

17. Use a domain name that includes your most targeted keyword.

18. Analyze your competition. Study their strategies and bidding practices and find a way to differentiate your ad and compete more effectively.

19. Use keywords in your ads so that they are highlighted.

20. Run competing adgroups with different ad copy.

21. Constantly monitor your results and never stop testing.

George Kokolakis is a professional Internet marketer and pay per click advertising expert. Subscribe to his free Google AdWords course at: http://AdwordSchool.com

Is Ebay a Viable Place to Start Growing My Online Business?

How you market your new online business will be something on the top of your mind from day one. It’s an important aspect, right? If people can’t see your site, you don’t make any sales, so it is not surprising that so many people look at eBay and try to work out how to leverage their vast streams of traffic.

Without doubt eBay is one of the world’s most popular web sites, so just attracting a very small percentage of that traffic could make a huge difference to a fledgling new business. However, it is not just a case of using eBay to sell your products or services, it is about encouraging them to visit your off eBay web site.

This takes a lot of time, the first thing you will need to do is build up a great reputation. Understand the intricate nature of how eBay works and learn how to position your products to sell them best. Once you have mastered this, you can then begin on your strategy to take your business off of eBay.

The reason why it is important to do this is because of the fees. Put simply, eBay is an expensive place to sell your wares. If you can cut out the middle man so to speak, your margins increase. Fortunately, eBay provide you with some great sales tools, you will have access to your customer’s email details, you can send them newsletters and you can pre program automated email responses. In fact all of these tools are powerful in their own right, so try to use them as often as possible as they will come in handy.

Once you’re comfortable with these tools, there is no reason why you can not use them to highlight your Internet business. Perhaps you might put a link to your site in every automated email you send, remember you can configure the standard eBay emails to whatever you want (within reason), another strategy is to include some kind of direct marketing response. For example, a limited time only offer of 10% should one of your customer’s buy something through your site.

The trick is to ensure that you’re encouraging users to click through to your other web site as much as possible. If your ducks are in line, you’ll be able to continue to grab your customer’s details. Maybe offer them a free eBook in return for them signing up to your newsletter, before you know it you will have a reasonable sized mailing list. Now every time you launch a new product or service, you can converse directly with people you know are already interested in your company.

The great thing about this is that you’ll soon start to be able to offer affiliate products, this is another way to make money through your site. If your mailing list is large enough, other web site business owners will approach you for inclusion in your newsletter, of course you can charge for the privilege.

In summary, eBay is a great way to start life as an online business, however it is important to have one eye on the future. Start planning your migration away as soon as possible, why should eBay take all the profit? They have enough already!

Charlotte Alice is a professional author for Guide to dropshipping and full time Content Writer

The Strategic Advantages of an Online Auctions & Ebay Business Model

Since they began in 1995 Online Auctions have changed and are changing the way we shop and already are having a huge impact on consumer shopping habits and the work at home opportunity, by effectively creating a massive virtual marketplace where millions of people gather to buy, sell and trade the hot items of the day.

As a business, Online Auctions are probably the only opportunity that allows everyone the chance to play on a level playing field. Everyone involved in online auctions and eBay has the same opportunity to reach and sell to literally millions of people – whether they are just looking to make a few extra bucks a week as pocket money; hope to develop a thriving and profitable work at home business and earn valuable part-time or full-time income; whether they are a working Mom making a modest income; or a big Company with lots of inventory to sell.

A Conventional Business needs a fair amount of both Capital and Time to be established and organised before you can really start trading profitably. And if you were planning to manufacture your own product - then depending on your product design and manufacturing cycle - there can be a big time lag before your products are delivered to the buyers and consumers and turned into sales and revenues.

In order to start-up and run any conventional business, there are certain minimum requirements which must be met before you can open shop and start trading including but not limited to:

• Capital or Equity;
• You – including your managerial and organisational skills;
• Time – weeks or months or even years of advance preparation;
• Business Strategy and Plan;
• Financial Plan and Short-term to Mid-term Budget;
• Marketing Strategy;
• Business Premises including Location and Layout;
• Manufacturing Premises if you plan to manufacture your own products;
• Equipment – Office and Manufacturing;
• Personnel;
• An Inventory of Products to sell – either manufactured by you or purchased from a supplier;
• A Reasonable Advertising Budget;
• Banking Facilities;
• Trading Licences and Certificate of Incorporation;
• Customers;
• Other Requirements depending on your country and place of business;

But as an Online Auction Seller or Auctioneer there are really only 6 easy to meet requirements:

1. Registration with the online auction house or eBay. It’s Free!
2. A Little Computer Knowledge;
3. A Computer or Access to a Computer;
4. A Good AD;
5. A Valid Credit Card – for setting up your seller’s account;
6. A Valid eMail Address;

Once you have registered with the online auctions site or sites of your choice, you can begin to sell any product you want at a profit. Registration and the beginning of a successful business can normally be accomplished within 24/48 hours with:

• No Need for Capital – it costs about $0.30 to list an auction and the listing fee is normally billed monthly;
• No overhead or upfront costs;
• No Need for Sales Staff or Distributors;
• No Need for a Website;
• No Need for Business Premises;
• No initial investment required;
• No need to ship products yourself if you use established, professional drop-shippers;
• Millions of captive online auctions buying customers;

The Strategic Advantages of this business model are clear and beyond dispute:

1. No Time Constraint – Bids can be placed at any time, 24/7, seven days a week and l65 days a year. Items can be listed for up to 10 days at the discretion of the seller, thus giving purchasers adequate time to search, decide and bid. This convenience increases the number of bidders;

2. No Geographical Constraints – Buyers and Sellers can participate from anywhere in the world that has access to the Internet. This makes the auctions more accessible, reduces the cost of “attending” an auction, increases the number of listed items/sellers and the number of bids/bidders for each item. Also there is no need to ship items to a central location, reducing costs and the seller’s minimum acceptable price;

3. No Language Barriers – Buyers and Sellers can participate from anywhere in the world that has access to the Internet and in their own language.

4. Intensity of Social Interactions – The social interactions involved in the bidding process are very high as the bidders wait in anticipation hoping to “win” and many bidders bid primarily to “play the game” rather than to obtain the and product;

5. Large Number of Bidders – Online auction sites attract a large amount of traffic making them an ideal place to capitalise on readily available, widespread exposure for your product and/or company. Because of the potential for obtaining highly valued items at a relatively low price, the broad range of products and services available, the ease of access and the social benefits of the auction process, there are usually a large number of bidders;

6. Large Number of Sellers – Because of the large number of bidders, the potential for a relatively high price, reduced selling costs and ease of access, there are usually a large number of sellers;

7. Network Economies of Scale – The larger number of bidders encourages more sellers which, in turn, will encourage more bidders, which will encourage more sellers etc. in a virtual spiral. The more the spiral operates, the larger the system becomes and the more valuable the business model becomes for all participants;

Stephen S Alison is a retired "bean counter" who spent 26 years in middle management positions for major US financial institutions in Europe and a further 10 years as an adviser/consultant to a number of European financial institutions. He has traded successfully on eBay for over 2 years using the same strategies and tactics published in his websites: http://www.howtomakeyourfortuneonebay.com http://www.learntomakeyourlivingonebay.com

Five Other Marketing Uses for Ebooks Aside from Selling Them

So you’ve created your own eBook, or have otherwise caused the preparation of the same. Or maybe you have purchased an already existing eBook with its master resale rights or private label right.

Now, you’re contemplating on how much you’re going to sell it to recover your investments. You’re already thinking about hiring a copywriter to create a sales page, or maybe, you’re even studying the basics of copywriting to write your own sales copy.

But is selling the eBook the best step to take? Indeed, you may gain some sales, either through your efforts, or through the efforts of your affiliates, but this will be short term profit. The earnings will only be good for a number of transactions.

Here’s an alternative you may decide to take: give away your eBook for free and make it viral.

At first glance, you may think of this tactic as dismissible. After all, where’s the money in giving something away for free, right?

Well, such an eBook can serve as the seed for a viral marketing campaign, and in the long run, it can provide for you a continuous source of prospects that will be willing to purchase your future offers. How is this possible? How is this done? Do consider the strategies below:

* Populate the pages of your eBook with your affiliate links. These affiliate links should be properly invoked, meaning, they will be mentioned in accordance with relevant portions of your information product. If you’re discussing email marketing in one chapter, recommend an autoresponder service through your affiliate link. If you’re discussing web hosting, recommend a web hosting service through your affiliate link, or perhaps, even your reseller account. Since the eBook will most likely be passed around (since it’s free), you’d be able to expose your products and affiliate links to more people in the long run.

* Populate the pages of your eBook with links to your URL. This URL should point to a landing page where you can capture the contact details of your visitors. Veteran online marketers will tell you that capturing leads is just as important as bagging some sales. Once your visitors subscribe to your mailing list, you can employ your email marketing strategies to warm them up for future sales.

* Reserve it for use as a bonus for your future offers. This will increase the value of your future offers, and such can justify a higher selling price. Additionally, your future offers will sell faster because of the eBook you’ll be packing in for free.

* Use your eBook as leverage for joint ventures. Some JV setups will require you to contribute a product to the pool which will be sold as one solid package. Often, these setups will require you to throw in the private label rights or the master resale rights of the same. If you wish to preserve the exclusivity of your other products, use your new eBook instead.

* Give away your eBook to the members of your mailing list. Such a gesture will surely make them happy. And when they’re kept happy, they’d get warmed up to your future offers.

As you can see, there are many, many other applications for your eBook other than selling it. And the fact that you will give it away free of charge would add a viral exponent to the equation. People love free things, and people love sharing free things with their family and friends. It’s human nature! Your eBook will be distributed in many, many channels, and if you will play your cards right, you’d generate a lot of leads from these situations.

Mark Flavin is the owner of http://www.markflavin.com the famous Make Money Website

How I Got 1000+ New, Targeted Visitors with Less Than 60 Minutes of Work

This little secret brought me over 1000+ highly targeted new traffic with less than 60 minutes of my time invested in it.

Now, this is not like the traffic you get from pay-per clicks which dies off as soon as you stop paying.

This little technique of mine actually produces traffic that just won't stop coming. The first time I tried it, I thought it was just a fluke. I tried it again and traffic went higher.

Then just to be sure - I did nothing for about 30 days and guess what.. the traffic did not drop. Infact the page rank of the sites I used this technique for went up.

So, the technique works and it is very simple.

All you need to do is write good articles. Forget about writing an "encyclopaedia" - short articles of 100 to 500 words related to what you do will work just fine.

Even if you cannot write articles or you consider it too much work, you'll get thousands of very good writers who are ready to give you high quality articles. Try freelancewriting.com, elance.com ...

Next, find keywords that are highly targeted to your websites and products and insert them intelligently into your article to create a flow of content. This makes your article an SEO (Search Engine Optimised) article. The object is to make your articles come up each time these topics are searched for online.

When you have done this, it is time to begin to submit your articles all over the web.

There are websites that will allow you to submit your articles for free. Also, there are sites and softwares that will submit your articles for you. Personally, I submit my articles myself and here's how I do it.

I search for "article submission websites" in search engines and I sniff through these sites. I basically go for websites that have a page-rank of 4 or higher (Note That). Sometimes, I post in places where the page rank is less BUT I usually stick with a page rank of 4 or more.

Some of the ones I particularly like are searchwarp.com, ideamarketers.com, ezinearticles.com

I then submit my articles to all these places.

To cover all grounds, I usually want to know what's happening to my articles, so I go to http://google.com/alert and set up an alert that covers the web and ask for a daily report.

All these usually takes me less than 30 minutes and then I sit back to watch what happens next.

The result is usually a stampede of traffic that floods to my websites starting not more than 24 hours after I have posted those articles.

(c) Oluwafisayo Akinlolu, 2006.

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10 Ways to Get Incoming Links To Your Website

Obtaining incoming links to your website fulfills two main objectives. Firstly it increases the traffic you could potentially receive to your site because the more links you have the more traffic you should receive, and secondly, by obtaining links from pages with a good page rank you can increase your own page rank which, although not the deciding factor, will help boost your ranking in the search engines.

Listed below are ten ways in which you can obtain these sought-after links.

1. Exchange Links With Other Websites

This process, known as reciprocal linking, is common place on the internet, and is something most webmasters do. However, while it's something you should do, it's important to note that search engines place more importance on one-way links than two-way or reciprocal links.

2. Submit Your Website To Directories

This is a good way of getting one-way links to your site (if a reciprocal link is not required). There are numerous directories you can submit to, offering both free and paid submissions. When deciding on whether paid submissions are worth it, you should look at the page where your link is expected to appear and see if it has a reasonable page rank, and the number of other links that appear on that page, with the fewer the better.

3. Build A Network Of Websites And Interlink Them

When building multiple websites it makes sense to interlink them, preferably from a home page link for maximum benefit. This can be very beneficial if each of your websites is on a different server, but be careful if they are hosted on the same server, as the search engines will think you're deliberately manipulating their results, and will most likely prevent you from achieving higher rankings.

4. Write Articles

This is a very powerful method of obtaining a lot of incoming one-way links to your site. By submitting your articles, which include the all important resource box with the link to your site, to multiple article directories you can pick up backlinks from not only these article directories but from other websites who pick up your articles and include them on their website or blog.

5. Write Press Releases

Writing a compelling news-worthy press release about your site or related topic, can also result in multiple websites and news sources picking it up and linking to your site. This is a very effective way of obtaining numerous one-way links very quickly, but doesn't offer the long-term benefits that articles do.

6. Create A Blog

Blogs are very easy to create with multiple websites offering free services, so there is no excuse for not creating a blog related to and linking to your main website. You could post anything - your thoughts, articles, or affiliate program reviews, for example, but make sure you include a link to your site in the links section, and at the end of each post if appropriate.

7. Leave Comments On Blogs And Guestbooks

You've got to be careful with this method that you don't abuse it and start spamming other people's blogs or guestbooks. Leave legitimate comments, and make it look like you actually have something to contribute. For example, just saying “Great Blog!” and then leaving your link is rightly considered to be spam, and will also damage your reputation in the long run.

8. Post On Forums That Allow Sig Files

Sig files are the line(s) that appear at the bottom of each message and act as a discreet way of advertising your site. You won't get a great deal of benefit in terms of page rank, as most forums do not have a high page rank for their threads, but you will build up a good number of links, and as forums generally tend to get spidered by the search engines regularly, they will follow the links to your site and subsequently spider your site on a regular basis.

9. Write Testimonials

By writing and submitting testimonials to websites that you have previously purchased products or services from, you can get high-quality links to your site, often from the home pages of the sites in question.

10. Buy Links

The final way to obtain incoming links is by simply buying them. This can have a dramatic effect on your page rank and subsequently your search engine rankings if you can get links from PR6+ sites, however the only problem with this is that most links for sale are often for a set period of time, usually a month, and so you have to keep buying them to maintain your higher page rank and rankings.

James Woolley is a full-time marketer who runs a website and newsletter dedicated to helping people make money online through internet marketing. To subscribe to his newsletter send a blank email to jimsmarketing@aweber.com or visit http://www.jimsmarketing.com

Review of the Top 5 Web Directories

Yahoo Web Directory

Perhaps one of the most highly sought after web directories is the web directory presented by Yahoo. On this web directory users who place links will have to pay a fee of approximately $299/year. Although this may seem pricey to some individuals, those who place their links on this particular web directory are quite likely to see beneficial results. This web directory is so vigorously applauded that it has received a 9 on the PageRank score sheet.

Best of the Web

Another paid web directory is Best of the Web. This web directory costs a reasonable amount of money, approximately $50/year, or a one-time charge of $150, and has been around for quite a long time which gives it an edge in the web directory market as many individuals are familiar with it. As for PageRank, Best of the Web scores a 7 which is quite a favorable rating.

DMOZ

As for the free web directories, one of the giants in this category is the DMOZ web directory. One who uses this web directory with a PageRank of 9 will find that they get quite a lot with their free submission. The SEO and traffic results which one will see from using this web directory are unbelievable. It is definitely worth an individual submitting their website link to DMOZ.

Yahooligans

For those individuals who are interested in utilizing a kid-friendly web directory, Yahooligans sponsored by Yahoo is a great place to start. Not only is this web directory free with regard to submissions but it also provides a child-friendly atmosphere for the kids to safely use. This web directory scores an 8 on the PageRank scale and is definitely worth a visit.

ExactSeek

Another free web directory which is quite popular is ExactSeek. This web directory is known for its specific categories and long-time presence in the web directory realm. One who is looking for a free site should check out ExactSeek to see if this is the site to add one’s link to.

Build incoming links to your web site by submitting to the Net-Guild web directory at http://www.net-guild.com

How to Create Your Own Podcasts

If you frequently listen to Podcasts, you might just get the idea of producing one yourself. Many podcasts sound like normal radio shows but you don't necessarily have to immitade a radio producer. Furthermore, you need to make sure you don't run out of topics or ideas so you should always choose something you're passionate about.

Getting Started

Consider subscribing to popular podcasts and take notes on what you particularly like or dislike about them. Then try to model your own podcast along the same lines. This includes the duration of your podcast, the rough outline of each episode as well as the music that you'll be playing (you can use free mp3 for the background music).

Required Hardware & Software

In order to create a podcast you'll need a PC with a microphone and an Internet connection. Laptop owners should probably not use the embedded microphone as it will also record ambient noise. If you want your podcast to also contain video, you're obviously going to need a webcam.

As far as software is concerned, there is a wide variety of free as well as commercial sound recording applications. One of the best, free, ones is called Audacity and it's open source software. Simply do a search on Audacity and you should easily find a place to download it. Audacity also supports plug-ins that can improve the quality of recording. You'll also need software to convert sound files of various formats into MP3. Audacity can handle MP3 encoding as well. All that's needed is the LAME MP3 encoder plugin, which is again freely available on the Internet.

Recording

To start recording using Audacity, simply click on the red button. You can add background music if you like, by selecting Project -> Import Audio. Bear in mind that you are only allowed to use free MP3 files for podcasts rather than copyrighted songs, as these will be broadcast all over the Internet. Finally, audacity plugins will enable you to add special effects to your podcast.

After you've finished recording, you need to export what you've just recorded into an MP3 format. If your podcast is of a talk show type, a 32KBps bit rate is usually enough. If it includes music, it is suggested that you use 128KBps for the encoding.

Publishing Your Podcast

So there you have it! Your first podcast is ready. All you need to do is publish it on the Internet. You need to upload the MP3 file of your podcast on the Web (most ISPs usually provide some basic web space for users) and then create an RSS feed for it. This can easily be achieved by going to feedburner.com which will create the feed for you. Remember to add every new episode to the RSS feed of your podcast. After that, simply go to iTunes and click on the "Submit Podcast" button on the main page.

You're all set. User can now subscribe to your podcast and you'll soon be broadcasting on the Internet!

Thomas Jackson maintains a Legal Music Download Guide at http://www.musicdownloadsguide.com

How to Write Kick a Butt Ezine Ad that Gets Attention and Action!

One of the best places to advertise online is in ezines and e-mail newsletters. Why? Ezine ads are very affordable compared with many other types of advertising. That also makes it an inexpensive way to test headlines and offers. But most important, it's a great way to reach the exact target market you want.

For example, my own ezine, "Straight Shooter Marketing", is read by over 20,000 small business owners and solo-preneurs. So if that's a market you're trying to reach, that could be a great match. If your target market is stay-at-home moms, you should search for ezines with that type of readership.

To find ezines that fit your particular needs, I recommend searching the Directory of Ezines Once you find where you'd like to advertise, it's time to write a kick-butt ad!

Remember that a successful ezine ad needs to do THREE things:

1) Get people's attention. can do this with an exciting headline. All caps is OK for this.

2) Promise something people will WANT and can GET right now. Instead of advertising your service or business, advertise a lead-generator like a free report, how-to articles, or of course your own ezine!

3) Tell them what to do next. This is the "call to action". Direct them to a web page for more information. Even better if you give a sense of urgency -- a reason to act now.

Most ezine ads vary between 25 and 50 words, so write one of this length, including your URL, and keep working it until it's GREAT!

Here Are Some Examples of Ads I've Used Myself:

Sample Ad 1:
HERE'S HOW TO BLAST OFF YOUR SALES, FAST!
Learn how to publish a simple ezine that will boost your business, make you famous, and grow a massive mailing list you can market to over and over. FREE report tells you how at http://www.ezinequeen.com/tutorial/index.htm.

Sample Ad 2:
HOW TO PUBLISH AN EZINE THAT MAKES YOU MONEY
My FREE Special Report will tell you how! Learn how to publish a simple ezine that will boost your business, make you famous, and grow a massive mailing list you can market to over and over. Go to http://www.ezinequeen.com/tutorial/index.htm.

Sample Ad 3:
THE MARKETING SECRET NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT
It will boost your business, make you famous, grow a massive mailing list you can market to over and over, and it's easy and free! What is it? See http://www.ezinequeen.com/tutorial/index.htm.

Run Your Ad in MULTIPLE Subsequent Issues of One Ezine

Running your ad just once will NOT give you a good sense of whether it's working. Place ads in at least 3 subsequent issues of one ezine to see how you do. Repeated placement has been proven to increase response rates. The Direct Marketing Association says that most people won't even respond to an ad until it's been seen 9 times!

A smart publisher will offer discounts for multiple ads. We do this especially to encourage beginner advertisers to run more than one ad, because they won't be able to gauge response if they just run one.

Use a Tracking Link in Your Ad

You will be WASTING YOUR MONEY unless you track your ad results using a link tracker. You cannot just keep an eye on your sales the day your ad runs and determine how that ad performed.

You need to use a tracking link in your ad, which will simply tell you how many people clicked on it. A good tracking system that's integrated with your shopping cart will also tell you which sales you had came from that certain ad, and it's really easy. (I recommend QueenCart.com)

For example, say you run an ad but you get no sales from it. Unless you use a tracking link, you won't know if your ad stinks, or your website stinks!

If you use a tracking link, you'll know where the problem is. If you got hundreds of clicks on your ad, but only a few sales at your site, then you know the problem is your website. If you got very few clicks on the ad, then you know you need to write a better ad.

See how valuable that is?

Tracking links can be long and ugly, but people don't have to see them if you advertise in ezines like this one that are published in HTML.

Test, Test, Test!

"You'll never learn what works best, unless you TEST!" Make changes in your ad copy from time to time and see how things go. See which ads pull the best responses and which ezines get you more subscribers.

Don't mean to sound like a broken record, but I can't emphasize enough how important a good, simple tracking system is for doing this!

Don't Be Afraid to Ask Questions

If you have any questions about running your ad, the publisher should be there for you. We ourselves work with a lot of beginners, so we even offer a Free "Tip Sheet" to help new advertisers get started. Why? A good publisher knows that if they can help you get good results, you'll advertise again!

Online entrepreneur Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen," publishes the award-winning 'Straight Shooter Marketing' weekly ezine with 20,000+ subscribers. If you're ready to jump-start your marketing, make more money, and have more fun in your small business, get your FREE tips now at http://www.EzineQueen.com

Formula for Traffic and Income Explosion in 3 Months

It begins with content- quality and unique content (C);

It graduates into website-optimization (O);

It grows into traffic (T);

The traffic snowballs into conversion/income (I)

C.O.T.I.= Web revenue Growth

I have put this formula into practice and within 3 months, what a modest but amazing results that I have experienced! I have also cross-checked with some of the experts, and the same spectacular results are what they have been enjoying for over 2 years now.

1. If you can, research into unique and special niche areas/topics, which are not so over-flogged by the spammers; then:

2. Create a website around that niche subject.

3. Build content DAILY with a minimum of 5 articles and/or press releases around that niche subject. This would leave you with a minimum of 150 to 300 indexed pages at the end of each month. You must help yourself further by setting up a Google Alert on that subject or keyword. EzineArticles.com is also a fantastic source of material for your niche area, just type your keyword into her search-box; from the search-results you can copy(not click, please) the reference(I don't expect you to click as an expert, I don't want us to violate Google's TOS).

4. Optimize, your website by submitting to the search engines, I concentrate only on the 3 Biggest ones: Google, Yahoo and MSN.

5. Apply for Google Adsense account, (if you don't have one already). paste and optimize your contextual adsense code on your site.

6. Join or subscribe as affiliate to promote other products online

7. Don't wait, but keep working on your articles and commentaries

With this formula (COTI), I have seen many online writers, publishers and entrepreneurs smiled from a paltry $30-$50 in the first month, grew to $150-$200 the second month, and waxed greater to above $350-$500 by the 3rd month. I have also heard of entrepreneurs who maintained this pace and momentum leaped to over $1,500 -$3,000 per month by end of their first year.

This formula is by no means exhaustive, it is not also a magic wand for lazy, get-rich-quick hucksters online. The results would come by dint of sheer dedication, creativity and HARD WORK to obtain.

In my web career, I have seen, from rough estimates of my Adsense Publisher friends, that over 85% of them earned a mediocre income of $300 and less per month from Adsense alone. A consistent application of this formula (COTI), can turn-around the fortunes of any serious and hard-working writer in one year.

In summary, if Quality and Plenty Content is KING; then, Optimized and Targeted Traffic is the pathway to the Throne for that KING. After all, a King without a Palace cannot command the respect befitting that royal office.

By Aderemi Ojikutu

Getting Started with Google Adsense

Google AdSense is either the greatest thing since peanut butter, or evil incarnate, depending on who you listen to! Personally, I like AdSense. It allows me to earn money from sites that just sat there waiting for me to put in some kind of method for charging people previously.

I can write whatever I feel inspired to write, slap it onto a website, and make money from it! Of course, if I write popular things, I make more money. And if I write using terms people LOOK for, I make even more!

A website with a fair amount of traffic can make a little. Purportedly, the average site makes $20 per month. When you consider how little work you have to do to get that $20 per month, ongoing, it is not too hard to build another site that makes $20 per month. Better yet, it is not too hard to tweak the wording of the pages a tad so that they use keywords that people will use to search for them, and increase the income on each site.

I am in no way suggesting anything unethical, just stating that search engine optimization techniques become doubly important when the site uses Google AdSense to earn, because not only will it get you more targeted traffic, it will get ads delivered to your site that are more closely targeted to your content. Remember not to include words that you do not want Google to display ads about.

Your site must be built, and should be registered with search engines before you post ads. And you have to have content - not just a notice saying "in development", on every page that you put ads on.

The first thing you need to do is to go to the Google AdSense site and check out their terms of use. They are pretty strict about your content, and you must follow the rules or they'll boot you out with no warning. Get your account, and then select some code that coordinates with your site design.

Place the code in a logical place - Top of the page, sidebars, and bottom of the page are standard places for ads, to keep your site from looking tacky. Google has a limit of how many you can put on a page, so make sure you know what it is for the type of ad you are using.

Get the code in, and upload your pages. You can look at the ads on your pages, but do not click on one. Don't even think about it. Clickfraud is dealt with very sternly - your account is suspended, and any earnings you had to that point are forfeit if you are suspected of clickfraud, and Google does not change their mind. Once you are out, you are out for good. If you want to make money with Google, clickfraud is not the way to do it, and they consider any clicks you generate to be clickfraud.

Don't have your friends go clicking on the ads either. Clicks are analyzed for normal patterns, and any anomalies will raise a red flag.

You can create "channels" in Google, to track the performance of various site sections, pages, or separate sites. This will help you to see what is working and what is not. Your goal is to make money... but fairly. You don't want to cheat anyone else by using unethical tactics to do so. Just follow the rules and use the tools Google provides to see which of your areas does best.

Once you get one site going well, you can build another. And with the next one, you don't have to apply for an account with Google, you are already in. Just load the site, register it, and add the Google code.

Google AdSense can be a great way to either supplement your existing website, or to build a separate income based on information sites. It takes a lot of work to make a full time income from it, but then, everything does!

Written by Laura Wheeler

Owner of Content Cupboard AdSense Instructions - http://www.contentcupboard.com/ - Laura writes instructional materials, produces infosites, and builds affordable websites for her business startup clients. Her varied experience allows her to give exceptional service, and to produce instructions on a surprising range of topics. Laura is a busy mom of eight, homeschooler, and home business owner.

Powerful Reasons You Should Be Using RSS Feeds

Imagine the next time you join a discussion about using RSS. When you start sharing the fascinating RSS facts below, your friends will be absolutely amazed.

Sometimes the most important aspects of a subject are not immediately obvious. Keep reading to get the complete picture.

RSS is widely becoming a very powerful marketing tool on the Internet. It has been picked up by Internet marketers around the world every day who knows about its usefulness. Nevertheless, there are still a majority of people on the Internet who haven’t used RSS to syndicate their content.

This new technology can change the way you keep in touch with your subscribers or readers permanently in a lot of ways. For people who still don’t know what the RSS is, here’s a definition - RSS is an acronym for "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary", and the XML extension is the format used for distributing your NEWS Headlines via the Web, which is known as Syndication.

Syndication is what makes RSS so powerful - you can unleash your message across the web instantly to your subscribers and readers through RSS. So what are the 8 most powerful reasons you should be using RSS? Read below:

1. Readers can opt-into feeds.

Like autoresponders, RSS allows your prospects to opt-into the feeds they are interested in and also be able to opt-out when they want to through their RSS feeds reader. It is almost similar to building a list of subscribers!

2. You don’t have to maintain an RSS feed.

This is a “burden-take-off” for savvy and busy Internet marketers as RSS is free to use and it doesn’t require that much effort as building a list. Of course, everything has its pros and cons. When you don’t need to spend time for your opt-ins, you won’t have a closer relationship with them and it makes promoting your product much harder.

3. You have the ability to Syndicate your content.

This is the true power of RSS. It gives you the ability to Syndicate your content – and e-mail your subscribers instantly letting your them know about your content right away.

4. Promotions and sales.

Again, similar to an autoresponder RSS lets you broadcast your promotions to your subscribers. This way, you can earn money through your RSS feeds as well.

5. No filter problems.

Every RSS feed passes through e-mail filters. You won’t have to worry about your message being filtered anymore while syndicating an article. All your messages are delivered 100% to your subscribers.

6. No spam complaints.

People who want to subscribe for your RSS feeds will need to do it with their RSS reader. They will need to abide by the Privacy Policy that you are allowed to send them your syndication anytime without being called spamming. Another great feature!

7. Many ways to read feeds.

RSS is very versatile because it lets you read feeds in many different media platforms. Some of the examples are browser readers while others use software to read their feeds. Other than that, people can view feeds on different operating systems like Microsoft Windows or Mac.

8. Free traffic and promotion.

RSS is one of the greatest ways to get free traffic to your website without needing to spend a single penny on advertising. This alone can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising a year to advertise your online business.

If you don’t have time to set-up your own webpage with RSS feeds it is recommended that you set-up an account with Blogger.com and head over to FeedBurner.com to set-up an account. FeedBurner.com will generate you a RSS subscription page automatically with any RSS feed URL you favor and inserted.

As your knowledge about using RSS continues to grow, you will begin to see how RSS fits into your overall marketing efforts.

Mark Sandquist is the Editor of eAuthorResources NewsLetter. http://eAuthorResources.com provides FREE Help and FREE Marketing Software for eBook Authors, Software Developers and their Affiliates and Resellers.

Lessons from Derek Gehl, from $25 to 60 Million and Counting

I just got back from a weekend with Derek Gehl, President of the hugely successful Internet Marketing Center.

So far, IMC has sold $60 million in products online. Not bad for a business that was started by Corey Rudl with $25 in a tiny bedroom in Canada. IMC's entire business is based upon helping people earn money on the internet.

Derek always starts off his two day seminars with a bang, covering none other than... GOALS. He knows you can have all the information in the world, and great ideas, but if you don't have a plan with direction, desire and targets, then the information is rather useless.

Not many people know the story about how Derek came to be a part of IMC's success story.

One fall morning back in 1998, Derek Gehl marched into Corey Rudl's tiny office and announced that he was going to come and work for Corey. Seeing as how Corey only had ONE employee at that time (his secretary), he politely explained to Derek that he was a one-man operation, and tried to send him on his way...

But Derek didn't give up that easily. He sat down and explained to Corey why he wanted to be his first employee -- and exactly what he would be able to do for him. And after a 3-hour long conversation ...

Corey decided to give him a shot and Derek became his right hand man.

This became a crucial decision because on June 5, 2005, Corey Rudl was killed in a car accident at the age of 34.

Derek was chosen to take the reigns at IMC and in his first year at the helm has done an amazing job at moving the Corey's mission forward, creating 10 new products, increasing business, and overcoming a situation that would have destroyed many companies. He did all this despite his feelings of sadness over the loss of his friend.

Derek has an amazing ability to set goals, create actionable plans and carry through on them. Sometimes focusing on your goals is what gets you through the tough times.

Derek's greatest strength is his ability to almost instantly develop a workable action plan for just about any business.

He has an uncanny knack for knowing WHY a business may not be meeting it's full online potential -- and then coming up with a long list of specific steps that the business owner can take to start improving things immediately! Goals are the foundation of his approach.

Derek rose to the forefront and has become a greater leader. Corey Rudl was wise enough to surround himself with other leaders. Leaders don't want their peers to be dependent on them or fall apart when they are gone. They lead by example every time they overcome a challenge. They want their peers and proteges to develop the greatness within, step up and rise above every adversity.

I'd say Derek is doing just that.

Derek even gave me some tips and strategies to make improvements on my own web site and newsletter. Small changes can lead to amazing results.

What are some small changes you can make today to get to the next level in your life or business?

Do it... do it now.

Live Your Dreams,

Jill Koenig

Jill Koenig is America's Top Goal Strategist. A best selling Author, Coach and Motivational Speaker, she is an expert on the subjects of Goal Setting, Time Management and Business Success. She publishes the world's largest Goal Newsletter. For free tips, articles and helpful resources, visit: http://www.goalguru.com

Doing Anything Is Better Than Doing Nothing!

I hear from a lot of people who want to get started in their own work at home business ideas. But, they're not getting started. They're waiting. For what? Lots of things.

Some people are waiting for the right time to get started. They're not sure when that is, but they expect to know when it comes.

Some people are waiting until they've learned everything about their particular line of business.

Some people are waiting for their potential partner to get ready to start.

And, frankly, some people don't know why they're waiting.

It's time to stop waiting and start doing.

Now. Today. This very minute. Here are the facts . . .

Forget about waiting for the right time. There is no right time other than now.

Forget about learning everything. You and I (and everyone else) will never learn everything. It's impossible.

If your partner isn't ready now, then maybe this is not the right partner for you. Your life is passing you by while you're waiting.

The longer you wait, the older you get. The more you miss out on the good things in life. The things you are waiting to get.

I understand that many of you are worried about doing the wrong thing. You probably will. But, you're likely to do that anyway.

Thomas Watson - CEO of IBM back in the day - had this advice: Increase your rate of failure and you'll become successful faster. You see, everyone screws up. The quicker you do it, the faster it's over with.

You have to remember that if you want more out of life, you have to put yourself in a position to get it.

According to the emails I get and the people I meet, the average person wants more out of life.

Why don't they just go get it? Because they are not in a position to do anything about it.

Most people do not control their own destiny. They are subject to the whims of some employer. Their financial growth is limited to a 4% annual salary increase.

These people can yearn for more - forever. They're not going to get it. Because they are not in a position to get more.

If they want a new car, they can't get it because they can't afford the higher car payment. If they want to take a vacation, they can't do it because they have no way to earn the extra money.

If you want to really enjoy life, you have to be in a position to control your financial future.

When you hear that you can make easy money working an online Internet business, remember that the word "work" is in there. It does, and will always, take some effort to acquire anything.

The phrase is "work at home business" not "goof off at home business." There are substantial gains and advantages for having your own automated Internet business running 24/7 without it requiring your constant attention. But it will require some work. And the first thing necessary is to GET STARTED!

Here's an awesome example: Eric, my partner in one of my Internet business, informed me this week that he "needs more money because there's a lot of stuff he wants to buy soon."

Unlike the average person, Eric is in a position to make this happen. He sat down with me to outline a plan to increase our sales in the next 30 days. Since he earns a healthy chunk of the profits, he will follow this plan and put more cash in his pockets.

Of course, many of you figure that Eric has it easy because he works with me. You're right. He does have it easy now. Of course, he invested 8,000 hours of his life over the last 2 years into this business to get in this position. He's earned the right to be here.

If you're not happy with your current situation, then do something about it! Change your position. Get in control of your life.

You'll be a whole lot happier when you take charge of your destiny.

The best way to assure your future is to create it.

Yours in success,

Shawn M. Casey

Internet Millionaire Shawn Casey's "Mining Gold On the Internet" is one of the best selling Internet books with over 85,000 copies sold. In "Mining Gold", Shawn reveals the same step-by-step strategies he uses to create millions in Internet sales =>ipcgold.com/ad/100/CD3839 Benefit from Shawn's 7 years of Internet experience and learn from someone who has actually made millions online.

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