The success or failure of your Internet marketing business depends largely on the Internet users. If they are interested on the products and services that you are offering for sale, definitely you can expect hundreds to thousands of dollars in revenues from your online business. On the other hand, if they are just too lazy to hear what you want to say and what you are offering, better shut down your personal computer unit and find some other ways of earning money.

As an Internet marketer, you do not want the second scenario to happen to your Internet marketing career. To be the “exception to the rule”, you must attract more web visitors to your site and turn them into long-term clients and build a loyal clientele base. Once you have satisfied such requirements, expect that there is something in return—positive returns, to be specific.

How will you say to Internet users that you need them to keep your online business alive? In fact, you need not to tell them straight to the point that you badly need them. All you need is a clever mind and some online advertising to get them without making them realize that you badly need them.

There are various online advertising methods on the Internet and each method has their product that works better on specific industries. There are huge numbers of individuals and companies operating online who wants to advertise what they have to offer, and there are also huge numbers of individuals and companies on the Internet who are willing to provide some advertising spaces. However, considering that the online advertising market is quite large, it will be inefficient for the advertisers as well as the providers of these online advertising spaces to individually meet and talk about the terms of conditions of advertising.

The individual or company who wish to advertise will certainly contact an online-based advertising company that are willing to provide the space that the advertiser needs as well as distribute their advertisements to different venues on the Internet at the same time.

The more benefits are now towards the online advertising firm. And you are considering an online advertising business.

But before you go, there are several things you need to consider first.

Start to gather a collection of websites or online companies that are willing to place advertisements on their sites. Select sites that are getting high web traffic every month. Once you have gathered advertising site venues, you may now start soliciting advertising clients. These advertisers will pay a certain amount of money that will commensurate with the exposure of their products or services on your advertising site venues. For instance, if you have contracted with 20 websites that are receiving an average of 200,000 web visitors every month, you can sell as much as 2,000,000 advertising exposures every month on each advertiser. In case that you have negotiated around 20 advertising venues on each website, you can sell an equivalent of 20 advertising clients with 2,000,000 advertising exposures every month. If an advertiser only pays for 1,000,000 advertising exposures, you can still sell the remaining 1,000,000 advertising exposures for a total of 11 advertising clients.

Now, what are the types of online advertising that you can offer? Here are some of the offerings that you can sell to individuals or companies who wish to advertise their products or services on the Internet.

•    Banner ads- these ads are typically pictorial ads that are commonly viewed on high-traffic sites and includes a hyperlink back to the advertiser’s own site. These are priced according to the number of ads shown. For instance, banner ads can be sold in lots of 250,000 impressions each.
•    Sponsorship ads- these ads are commonly larger than banner ads, which sometimes contain considerable amount of text. These are typically placed on high-traffic areas such as ezines or online newsletters.  It is priced according to the number of readers of the newsletter or publication in which the ad is placed.
•    Pay per click (PPC) ads- these ads are priced according to the number of clicks generated through site visitors, These are commonly text ads, though there are PPC ads that are pictorial-based.

Starting your own online advertising business is another opportunity of earning more money on the Internet marketing industry.

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What’s Your Customer Worth?

Do you know the economic value of each customer who buys from your site? If your answer is, $47 or $95 or the price of your product, then that’s the wrong answer! You just identified the value of the first purchase.

A more important number to know is the “lifetime value” of a customer.  Did you know that you’ll spend five to seven times more money and more effort to gain to a new customer than you would to get another order from a current customer? 

That’s a general rule. For some products, prospects may need even more contact and visits to your site before they click the order button. Nurturing your customers is an important way to increase your overall sales.

You’ve already built rapport with the customer so when you send a new product pitch, the customer wants to know what you have to offer. Finding quality products from trustworthy sellers can be a challenge, so buyers who received a good product in a timely manner backed by a solid guarantee are satisfied and they’re more likely to buy again.

To keep your customers buying, don’t flood them with just any offer. Make sure that you send product offers that match the customer’s prior purchase type and overall price range. Some customers like to download information products while others want to receive CDs or DVDs.

You need to know those preferences so that you offer what a customer is most likely to buy. The worst thing you can do is flood their email inbox with every type of offer. Before long, customers are deleting them without reading your messages.

You want a customer to see your email and say, “I want to see what’s new today!” That’s the kind of response that means a long term buying relationship. What sets you apart from other Internet marketers is in the way that you nurture connections with your customer.

Send out the occasional free item as a “customer appreciation” gift. You’ll really stand out if you send a free gift that’s not part of an order. This is another way to remind a customer to drop back into your site and see what’s new.

Let your customers market for you by offering a discount or bonus item when they recommend a friend who purchases your product. A loyal, repeat customer is gold – treat them as the valuable asset that they are to your online business.

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Twitter Your Way to Instant Traffic

Twitter is a different take on communicating that blends instant messaging with social networking.  With a mere 140 characters per post, you answer the burning question, “What are  you doing now?”

To answer this, you have to make the most of every word. You have to capture attention quickly in each “tweet” (the Twitter name for a post). Sign up for Twitter and send out notices to your friends and subscribers. 

The more people who follow your “tweets,” the more your following grows as their friends see your profile thumbnail on other people’s profile pages and click through to follow you as well.  Every time you post a new tweet, each of your followers receives it instantly on their computers or cell phones if they’ve set it up like that.

Sending regular tweets can help build loyalty among your followers. Don’t just send anything, make it count. If you write reviews on electronic games or develop accessories for Avatars, then you want to let your followers know when you have something new for them.

You can develop an almost fanatical group who are so intent on knowing what you have to offer that they hang on your every tweet. For info marketers, this intensity can develop into a loyal group of buyers who respond to your new offerings.

Friends who want to set up a meeting can use tweets to inform everyone of the time and place. You can also send a tweet to direct attention to your latest blog update or lens creation. Remember to save room to add the URL for your site.

This is important for creating interest in your site and developing your brand. Even with a short post, you can set up your identity in a way that draws more followers to your niche. Twitter is a delight to some and baffling to others.

You have to get into it to really get what’s happening. Look at other Twitterers and see how many ways they’re using tweets to set their brand, establish a persona, show expertise or drive traffic to their sites.

The instant gratification of Twitter is part of its addictive potential. When you choose to Twitter within your field, profession, hobby, sport or business, then you’ll see how to dispense an enormous amount of new information rapidly, one Tweet at a time.

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Seasonal Influences for Online Marketing

Just as retailers plan and set out attractive displays to take advantage of seasonal spending, you need to keep seasonal interests in mind for your online marketing. Granted, you reach a worldwide audience, so you don’t need to be too specific. But there are certain “seasons” for buying that are universal.

New Year’s – The start of the year causes people to make those pesky New Year’s resolutions. They promise to lose weight, start exercising, clean out clutter in home and office, establish better time management skills and begin regular savings programs.

The search engines are buzzing with these keyword topics the week before January and throughout the month. You need to be ready with information products to turn those resolutions into workable strategies. But do it fast, because resolutions don’t last much past February.

Spring – When tiny flowers and green leaves peek out from winter weary branches, there’s a sense of renewal.  People start to think about planting a garden, fixing up the patio or landscape and beginning outdoor sports. Package information products on early gardening and join affiliate programs that ship flowers and buds.

Summer – This is prime family vacation time – parents looking for activities for children who are out of school and outdoor entertainment.  You don’t have to compete with the big travel sites. What you have to offer is ideas for summer fun – family friendly resorts, how to choose a summer camp and creating lush outdoor spaces on a budget.

Back to School – At least a month before school starts, parents are shopping for school clothes, supplies and electronics. Present reviews that are informative and connected to affiliate programs for back to school products. Don’t forget the homeschool families and add products for them, too.

Fall, Harvest, Thanksgiving – The change of seasons brings last camping opportunities, team sports, school events and family travel for the traditional Thanksgiving holiday. Put a new twist on information products, such as how to prepare a vegan feast or helping your child cross-train for multiple sports participation.

Winter, Christmas – The colder weather brings winter sports, family gatherings, shopping and decorating for holidays in December. Prepare a list of less crowded, budget friendly winter sports vacations, and how to save time shopping online and decorating using what you already have at home. It’s also leading into the year-end time of reflection when people think about what they enjoyed and what they want to change next year.

As you make seasonal marketing plans, remember that the seasons arrive at different times on each side of the equator. So if you’re marketing outside of the United States, what you consider spring may be fall elsewhere.

Winter break can be prime ski resort time in Aspen, Colorado and sun-bathing on the beach in Sydney, Australia. The good news is that you can use “spring” for both sides of the equator with different timing and slight tweaks of the information.

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Social Bookmarking to Grab Attention Online

Social bookmarking is the electronic version of leaving a breadcrumb trail. After all, you can have a great product, but without enough traffic, it’s just another nice site.  Even if you have a faithful marketing list, you constantly want to reach new online viewers.

The options for connecting with social bookmarkers are exploding.  That’s why you need to surf around and see what’s out there, then set up a series of “regular” social bookmarking accounts to use.

StumbleUpon is one of the leading social bookmarking sites that’s both easy to use and powerful. Once you create an account, you can add the toolbar interface.  Then all you do is click the Thumbs Up icon to recommend a site.  You can do this for your own sites, or ask your friends to submit a Thumbs Up rating for you. Besides the rating, you can add comments about the site.

Can you Digg it? That’s not just a line from a 70s movie – it’s a widely used social bookmarking site. Digg functions much like Stumble Upon with raters given the chance push the ratings of a site to the front page. Making it to the front page of Digg gets your information in front of thousands of viewers and it helps traffic flood in to read your newsworthy submission.

Clipmarks describes itself as “scissors for web pages.” As with other social bookmarking sites, you can submit items that are sent to the web – including to Facebook or to an iPhone. As a one stop service and huge time saver, sign up with OnlyWire.

You begin by installing a plugin for your browers, and then you only need a single click to submit your item to multiple sites. To make this work, you still need to sign up at bookmarking sites that you plan to use. After that, you can use OnlyWire to handle the multiple submissions.

Make sure your site viewers know how to rate your site. You can’t reward or bribe them for bookmarking your site. That’s the social bookmarking version of stuffing the ballot box at voting time.

You can put links to the bookmarking sites on your sites as a gentle reminder. And don’t be shy about submitting your new information to the networks yourself – just make sure you also submit other sites so that you don’t appear spammy. Let people know what you’ve got and where to find your site and they’ll share that information with others.

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Online Marketing Is Customer Centered

An old adage in sales is that “the customer is always right.”  Over the years as retailer grew large, profit margins faded and experienced salespeople grew scarce, there seemed to be less interest in the customer.

People grudgingly accepted the lack of customer service as the price they paid for cheap products. They complained, but they bought anyway because that’s just the way it was. Online shopping, while distant, is more customer centered than many local retailers.

To develop a rapport with customers in a virtual environment, online marketers had to establish trust and they did it with money back guarantees plus fast delivery. This customer-centered approach not only created trust as planned, but also caused a surprising number of customers to ignore the local stores and shop at major retailers’ online sites.

As a developing Internet marketer, you can learn from this brief history.  You want to position your product as user friendly and open for refund. Granted, this is easier with downloads and information products than with shipped products.

But even shipped products that offer guaranteed, no questions asked refunds actually have fewer refunds because the consumer feels free to try to return it if they’re not satisfied. Before the sale, you want to provide ample information about the product – including several photo views if appropriate. 

Think about the questions a buyer might ask and have the answers ready before the question arrives.  An easy way to provide this information is with an expanded FAQ (frequently asked questions) page. Make sure there’s a link to the FAQ page from each product page.

If your product requires assembly after delivery, post an extra copy of how to assemble it. Even better is to post a video showing and telling how to do the assembly. Another great idea is to post videos showing alternative ways to use the product. This gives buyers options that they might not have considered.

To be consumer-centered means that you can be reached easily. Post your email (or that of your customer service center) and a phone number or SKYPE name. If you are the “Customer service center,” send those emails to a designated email box and answer them promptly.

If you can’t, at least set up an autoresponder saying that you received the customer’s email and are working on the solution. The more ways you can be contacted, the more the customer feels at ease that you aren’t hiding in some unreachable corner of cyberspace.  You can’t shake hands with your online customer, but you can create an ongoing buying relationship by demonstrating that you’re a customer-centered online marketer.

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Traffic Conversion by Doing the Unexpected

Techniques for traffic conversion are well known in the Internet marketing community, but most that are used are basic. They work well, but not spectacularly. What you need is to find a new twist on traffic conversion.

Perhaps what you need isn’t something different, but a different approach. You might find that taking an unexpected route is just what your site needs to increase buyer response.

Replace “want” with “fear.” Sure it’s great that a viewer wants your product, but desire isn’t as strong as fear. Make your sales copy emphasize the scarcity of the product and how terrible it would be to miss out. 

“You can spend hours trying to make those purchased templates look like a custom website but you’re stuck with a few colors and choices. Meanwhile, marketers with XYZ Web Page Super Package are up and running in an hour with the look of expensive graphics.” 

Now the reader pictures the competition making money while he’s still fighting with fonts. That’s fear – fear of being left out.

Long sales copy works only if it’s not boring.  In an effort to create the typical long sales letter, inexperienced writers just repeat the same information with little variation. This isn’t the time to “do it yourself.”

Professional writers know how to get that same information across in fresh ways so that each section of the sales letter is familiar, yet not repetitious. If you don’t have the skill do to that, then hire a professional copywriter. What you pay for a good sales letter is a direct investment in traffic conversion. Consider it a one-time expense for endless traffic conversion opportunities.

Raise the price. But wait, if sales are falling, why would charging more be better? You may have under-priced your product, which gives it a lower value in the viewer’s perspective. Add another section or package with a second information product.

Change the cover design. Add new delivery options so that a buyer can choose eBook, CD or MP3 audio product formats. These small changes give you a reason to bump up the price. And don’t get chicken by going from $9.95 to $12.95. Take the price up to $17 or $27 and hype the promotion.  You can do a limited time discount – “Order now to get the product for $12.95 because in 48 hours, the price goes to $17!”

Make a Limited Time Offer.  Create urgency by offering a one time purchase to a limited number of buyers for a short time. This plays to fear (“what if I miss it”) and scarcity (“I want it before someone else gets it”). 

Then take it off the market at the end of the offer. Nothing discredits you more than repeated “limited time” runs. Remove the product, make a few changes or updates and add something else to the package. Then – and only then – can you bring back the product without losing face and buyers.

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Engineers, doctors, nurses, accountants, and lawyers.

They are what we call as professionals. They are individuals with recognized knowledge and expertise on a certain field of endeavor. They are entitled by law and existing policies to practice their respective professions. They are worthy of the standards of their profession, giving them legal licenses to practice their respective professions. Thus, they are the “authorities” in their respective field of endeavors.

Along with their tag as professionals, these individuals are bounded by proper etiquette with regards to their actions and behaviors. As professionals, they are expected to deliver required services to the public and at the same time deal with other individuals and professionals in an appropriate manner. They are looked upon as leaders; thus they are expected to act as real professionals when dealing with their work and other people.

Professionals are everywhere—in various construction sites, real estate markets, hospitals, county courts, and other places. Even the Internet marketing industry is surrounded by various professionals—Internet business consultants, web content writers, software developers, web designers, and others.

Thus, the Internet marketing is a pool of web-based professionals who are working not just for their personal interest but for the development of the industry as well. But what does it take to be considered as one of the Internet marketing professionals?

As previously mentioned, the definition of a professional revolves around the concept of “an individual who has recognized knowledge and expertise on a certain field of endeavor”. As a professional, you are considered to be worthy of the standards of your profession. You need to show to the world that you are really worth to be considered as a professional through creating a professional image.

However, building a professional image is not as easy as you think. In fact, it entails a great deal of time and effort. Your knowledge and expertise is not just the working factor here. You must also consider the conduct of your business in a professional manner, especially on the Internet where you are dealing with clients whom you do not know and you do not see.

Now, how will you start building your professional image? Consider the following aspects in creating your image on the Internet marketing industry.

•    Your attitude is among the most essential aspects in creating your professional image on the Internet. It can either make you or kill your career in an instant. The manner you deal with your fellow Internet marketers, clients, and the concerns they want you to answer such as questions, comments, and compliments will reflect on your professionalism as a reputable Internet marketer.

•    Courtesy is also an important factor. As previously mentioned, you are dealing with people whom you are not seeing and you do not know. Despite of that gap, make your “unseen” clients feel that they are very much appreciated. You must be respectful and warm in accommodating their queries and concern. Even in words, always express your gratitude to them.

•    Honesty is the best policy. Do not mislead your web-based clients or else you will lose them. Remember that you have to earn their trust for you to build long-term relationships with them.

•    When dealing with your clients, always go above and beyond their expectations. Always listen to the concerns of your clients. As a professional, you are expected to hear from your clients even if you know and understand most of the aspects of your Internet marketing business.

•    Unsatisfied clients always complain about poor technical support. You need to make yourself personally available to assist your clients with their needs. If possible, respond to their emails and return their call as fast as possible.

•    Although it is a loss if you will refund the money of unsatisfied clients, you need to. Do not argue with the issue or blast nasty things unto them. Always be apologetic, courteous, and know why they are unsatisfied. Remember the rule that “customers are always right”, even if you feel that they are wrong.

•    Your website is the reflection of yourself and your Internet marketing business. It must be professional-looking, complete with product and contact information, and easy ordering protocol.

•    Be respectful to your fellow Internet marketers. Keep in mind that you must build a friendly competition on the business and not on personal preferences.

Internet marketing professionals possess those aforementioned aspects. Thus, before getting respect from the Internet community, show to them that you are worthy of their respect and build a professional image on the Internet.

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Time Traps for Online Marketers

Be honest – how many online marketing courses leave your breathless with excitement that soon turns to exhaustion and confusion? That’s a common frustration for people who are trying to get up to speed in online marketing.

There seems to be so many things to do that the time drain is huge and the profits don’t match time expended. Stop and make a priority list. What do you want most from online marketing?
Supplemental income? 

Potential for fulltime income in one year or less? Freedom to work from home or anywhere you find an Internet connection? Identify your top three goals – and only three. Next, create an immediate to-do list.

What’s necessary to get in business online? Get your domain name, build a website, engage an autoresponder, search for products, etc. Make sure you have at least a DSL or high speed Internet access that’s reliable.

Get a computer that’s the best quality you can afford. Follow the ideas you learned in the online marketing courses, but start at a basic level. Some courses want you to jump in at the deep end and presume you have the basics already.

With the basics in place, create a weekly to-do list. Print these as check off sheets and keep it on a clipboard at your computer desk. Here’s where you put order into the chaos of leaping around cyberspace to tag, post, comment, blog, write, research and all of those other tasks used by experienced online marketers.

Unless you have a list and a time schedule, you can spend hours posting to blogs only to get distracted with other information.  Decide how often you need to do each task weekly. If you’re marketing on a part time basis, then you could do tagging on Monday, forum postings or social networking on Tuesday and Saturday, blogging on Wednesday and Friday and conducting keyword research on Thursday.

Take Sunday (or at least one other day) as an online free day to get out, take a brain break and enjoy yourself.  You may need to set time limits on your to-do list items. Use a screen reminder or an old fashioned kitchen timer. 

Sitting for hours fixated on the computer screen is bad for your eyes and posture, but also puts you at risk for mindless munching on junk food. Here’s another time saving tip – turn off the instant message or email notification while you’re focused on a to-do task.

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Online Marketers Need to Ask the Right Questions

Smart online marketers know that asking the right questions is the most important aspect of establishing your expertise in a successful niche. Let’s say your niche is “how to avoid foreclosure on your home.” 

The tendency is to jump ahead of your prospects and give them information on loan consolidation or credit protection. Those are major issues, but not the only issues.  If you aren’t sure what kind of questions people facing foreclosure ask, get into forums on that topic and pay attention to what solutions they need.

Talk to anyone you know who’s facing this problem.  Then ask yourself these basics (regardless of the niche topic):

·        Are the immediate concerns personal or financial?

·        What are the emotional issues?

·        What happens next? 

·        What are creative, non-traditional ways to approach the problem?

·        What products or services does a person in this situation need or want?

Notice how these “personal impact” questions take your thinking processes beyond the usual information “how to” ideas. That’s because each of these questions represents a potential information product, video “how to” and affiliate product that takes a different twist than the generic options.

You can also use the contrary approach. Information products tend to show what happens when the buyer follows the advice.  Some viewers will read your sales letter and dismiss it saying, “So what if I don’t follow that advice?” 

Show them what happens by preparing an information product that explains the worst-case scenario or the less than ideal situation. Then wrap up the final pages by pitching how to change this for the better with the positive spin version.

Other questions that you can use as idea starters for product development are:

·        At what point is the buyer likely to get stuck or frustrated implementing the system?

·        What skills need to be improved to use this knowledge to move to higher level of profits?

·        What are the biggest obstacles to success for a newcomer to this system?

·        How to you want the buyer to feel after using (implementing, reading) this product?

And the final, critically important question is: What do you want buyers to say in recommending your product?  If you want them to say, it’s simple, concise, sophisticated or worthwhile then make sure you build those features into the product and highlight them in your sales copy.          

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