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