$1 Million in Google AdSense Earnings

They are calling him the million dollar man. Jason Calacanis recently revealed in his blog that he is on track to earn a million dollars from AdSense over the year ahead. 

And if that number doesn’t wake you up and have you sitting on the edge of your seat, consider for a moment that he reached this level in less than a year. His company only started using AdSense in September 2004. 

Calacanis runs Weblogs Inc., a network dedicated to creating trade weblogs across niche industries. And he’s quickly proven that AdSense is a credible advertising partner. 

As their network has grown, so has their AdSense revenue. In January 2005 they earned an average of $580 per day. In March it was $737. In May it was $1,585. One day in July, just before he made the blog entry referred to above, they earned $2,335. Remember that is just for one day.  If they can take that daily average to $2,740 they’ll be earning a rate of $1 million for a year. And Calacanis predicts that reaching daily earnings of $3,000 or even $5,000 is quite achievable. 

That’s quite an achievement. Keep in mind that Calacanis has 103 bloggers on the payroll and nine staffers. Even so, many webmasters would give an arm or a leg to have even a third of that. 

Google’s AdSense has been revolutionary. It has become firmly established as the darling of the online advertising industry. Although rumors are heard of major competitors launching a similar service, AdSense’s premier position seems secure for now. 

In essence, AdSense has made it possible for almost anyone with a web site or blog to earn some revenue from advertising, without having to employ sales people or spend precious time searching for advertisers.  

AdSense works like this. Webmasters sign up for an account in just a few minutes. They receive a small snippet of code to include on their web pages. Google will then automatically serve advertisements that are relevant to the content on the webmaster's pages. When someone visits the webmaster's site and clicks on one of Google's AdSense advertisements, the webmaster earns a fee. Advertisers can pay anywhere from five cents to a hundred dollars per click, and the webmaster receives a percentage of that fee.

Many webmasters are content with earning five to ten dollars from AdSense to cover the cost of web hosting. But many, unsurprising, have higher ambitions. At a popular WebmasterWorld forum, participants share tips and encouragement on reaching a goal of $300 per day from AdSense. So it is no wonder that Calacanis created quite a buzz when he made his million dollar blog entry. 

Google have proven once again that they excel at designing innovative Internet services. If you are in the web industry and have not yet used AdSense, then perhaps you should try it out. Or if you are already using it, perhaps Calacanis’ impressive results will encourage you to track the performance of your AdSense units more closely, fine tune their positions and formats, and take your earnings to a new level. 

Calacanis’ million dollar blog entry can be viewed at: http://calacanis.weblogsinc.com/entry/1234000403051129/

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“ What If ? ”

What if, What if, What if. This question comes at us every day. What if I said this, What if I did that or what if I didn’t. It comes down to decisions. We all have decisions to make every day of our lives. We all make good and bad decisions. That’s life. When you look back on your life you can think of some really great decisions that you made, decisions that have altered the course of your life. You can also remember some really bad ones that have affected you in a negative way.

 Life is never static, it’s always changing and opportunities come and go. Doors open and we have to decide whether to step through and seize the opportunity or not. When you are standing in front of that open door of opportunity the question arises “What if?” do I or don’t I. We need to make a decision. How do we make decisions? This depends on our background, education, life experiences and sometimes advice from others. 

We don’t know each other, but I would like to give you some advice. Suppose I said that I knew something that could change your life forever for the better. Would you be interested? Suppose I said I knew someone that was showing other people how to acquire something like real estate for free. Suppose you could also learn how to build on your “land” something like a five star hotel. You would also learn how to market your “hotel” and collect rent from guests that pay to stay. Would you be interested? 

What am I talking about? It’s called virtual real estate. Your own space on the World Wide Web or Internet if you prefer. If you own a space there it can turn out to be very valuable property.

The most expensive house in the world is a 12 bedroom mansion in London England for which an Indian steel tycoon paid $128 million.

The most valuable web page in history, to date, will probably be thesixmilliondollarpage by Alejandro Saavedra  and Robert Kanaat. Now here’s the difference. The tycoon paid $128 million for the house. How much did these two guys pay for the page. Next to nothing. Maybe a couple hundred bucks at the most depending on how they went about it.

I am going to open a door for you that could literally change your life. The only cost is your time and effort. Now you must decide! Ask yourself the following question:-

“What if” I click on this link:

It could make all the difference.

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What is Affiliate Marketing?

Have you ever wanted to make money online without having to stock products and do all the necessary accounting, credit card transactions, and shipping? Then affiliate marketing just might be what you're looking for.

Affiliate marketing is a profit-sharing business venture linking a webmaster and an online business. The website owner will position advertisements on his websites to sell the merchant's goods and/or to send possible clients to the merchant's website, and then profits are shared accordingly.

There are three ways to earn money through affiliate marketing:

Getting paid for clicks - Whenever a potential purchaser leaves the affiliate website by "clicking" on the link leading to the merchant's website, a certain amount of money is deposited in the affiliate's account. This amount can be pennies or dollars depending on the product and amount of the commission.

Getting paid for completed sales - Whenever a sale is made as a result of advertising on the affiliate's website, a percentage, or commission, is deposited into the affiliate's account.

Getting paid for sign-ups - Whenever a potential client registers at the merchant's website as a result of the advertisement on the affiliate's account, a previously determined amount is deposited into the affiliate's account.

For many website owners, this is a good way to make some additional cash by doing something once and then continuing to reap the rewards over time. All it involves is placing an ad on your website. There's no special selling or promotion of any kind. The affiliate leverages additional income off of the website promotion he is already doing.

It's also beneficial to the merchant. He doesn’t have to spend any money out of pocket for promotion until a product has sold.

Affiliate marketing has its benefits, but there are also a few drawbacks. For the merchant, there is a danger that an affiliate’s dishonest or unscrupulous practices will tarnish his company’s image and reputation.

The affiliate has to do thorough research on the merchant before agreeing to affiliation. To ensure a satisfying and lucrative business arrangement, find out the answers to these questions before entering into any affiliate agreement:

1.  How much commission does the merchant pay? 50% is a good starting point; any less than that and you’ll be spending most of your income on advertising.
2.  How often are commissions paid? Make sure you have the financial resources to keep on selling a product if you have to wait a long time before you get paid. Also, find out the minimum commission that you have to earn before you get paid. Of course the best situation is getting paid as soon as you sell.
3.  Does the merchant use tracking cookies? You want to make sure that you get recognition as the referring vendor if the customer returns and buys at a later date
4.  Does the company pay on successive sales? It is vital that you get paid no matter what approach the customer returns by if you are to build a sustainable income.
5.  What promotional means does the merchant offer? Does he offer ads, websites, or articles? It usually works best to write your own promotions, but whatever is provided gets you off to a good start.


Affiliate marketing can be a first-rate starting point for anyone new to internet promotion.  Linking up with just the right merchant for you might be tricky; the tips in this article can help, and you need to trust your own judgment. Only you can make the right decisions that will help you achieve your personal financial goals.

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Keyword Density for Newbies

In past articles, we've discussed the importance and methods of choosing the right keywords for your site and your niche market.  

Keywords are the phrases that search engines use to categorize your site for future reference when someone is searching in your niche market.

Now, we've already learned that we need to put our keywords not only in our meta tags, but also in other important tags located in our HTML code.  Another important on-page factor is peppering your keywords throughout your content.  

This serves a couple purposes.

First, it backs up your claim to the search engines that your site is truly about what you say it's about.  So, should I quantify "peppering?"

Actually, the technical term is called "keyword density," and its mathematical equation is the percentage of keywords included in the total content of your page.  

You see, years ago when keywords were introduced as a strategic way to get your site seen in the search engine results, people would use their keywords over and over and over in their meta tags.  This has been deemed "keyword stuffing" and the search engines disapprove highly of such use.

The mentality was, the more keywords you had in your pages, the higher you'd be in the search engine results.  This extreme usage of keyword density now can actually work against you so much it can lead to your site getting "black listed" by the search engines.  

It is as bad as it sounds!

So, what exactly IS the best keyword density in your web pages?  Well, as far as content goes, the words people can see on your site should have between 3-7% keyword density.  

As far as the words the search engines see but your visitors can't, it's important that you use your comment and alt tags to increase your keyword density if your visible content falls a little short.

Now, other than in your content, where else should you be concerned about your keyword density?

A perfect example is in an article such as this one.  This article is to raise awareness of the keyword tool we're promoting.  We write articles such as these to teach people about the importance of keywords in their internet marketing.  

Each article focuses on keyword density for one of our keywords.  One of our keywords is, in fact, keyword density!  So, when writing this article, we make sure to have that phrase scattered throughout the article, staying within the guidelines I've listed above.

As it turns out, the keyword density of the visible content in this particular article is 2.7%.  So, we would have to include the phrase in our comment tags to bring up the ratio to the percentage range listed earlier in this article.

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Email Marketing - The Lifeline Of Your Internet Business

It is not unusual to have high ranking at the Search engines yet see low conversion rates. In fact, someone else whose ranking is lower than yours may be making a killing online with his products. How could that happen?  With all other things being almost equal, good web design, good sales copy, quality products, it is highly probable the other person has an effective email marketing campaign set in place.

It is a so-called 'known secret' of successful online marketers that the lifeline of any Internet business is email marketing. It brings longevity to your business. If you hope to make a long term living off your Internet business, you need to give serious thought to email marketing if you haven't done so.

I started off my Internet business without seeing the need for email marketing. I spent a lot of time on SEO. Then one day this question dawned upon me. What am I to do with the traffic that would show up at my door?

It is a known fact that not many people will buy your product or service on their first visit to your website. Yes, some may buy the products that you are promoting but the majority won't. The vast majority may never come this way again. You stand to lose substantial traffic in this way. Then what about those who bought something? How can they become your lifelong customers?

No wonder, successful online marketers have an effective follow-up system that allows them to touch base with their visitors.  What better cost effective way to do so than through email.

4 Benefits of Email Marketing:

1.Gives visitors a personal touch to your online business. Email communication is the most cost effective way at present to touch base with your website visitors.

In a highly impersonalized world of Internet marketing, simple personalized email communiques can do wonders for your Internet business.

2.Allows you to build credibility and trust with your visitors. You can achieve this by conducting short courses in the area of your expertise through email. The courses you conduct must be relevant to the products or services you are promoting on your website.

For example, if you are promoting weight loss products, you may conduct a short course like 30 days to lose weight.  People are more disposed to buy your product or service if they gain confidence through the information you have provided.

3.Exposes visitors to your product or service. Sales statistics reveal that most people need to be exposed to an offer 7 times or more before they buy. You have no way of exposing your products or services before your website visitors except through Email marketing.

4.Turns first time buyers into lifelong customers. Email marketing is an effective way to update your customers of your latest products and services.

Follow-up with your customers immediately after they made a purchase with an offer of a free gift or special discounts on products that are related to what they have bought. This is good marketing practice. You will endear first time buyers to you, and turn them into lifelong customers.

After all been said, how to get visitors to leave behind their email address? Nobody will give something in exchange for nothing. Offer a free e-book, or software, or email course, or newsletter in exchange for your visitors' names and email addresses. This is by no means tricking people into giving their email address. In the first place, your visitors have some expressed interest when they came by your website. Your job is to continue to arouse their interest that they want to know more about what you have to

offer them.

The names and email addresses you collect is called an opt-in email list. With it you can touch base with your visitors without being accused of spamming.

Follow-up with personalized email communique, offer relevant information and leads. Don't turn your email communique into one big sales letter. It puts people off. If they unsubscribe from your mailing list, it's your loss. Say goodbye to your potential customers.

You cannot maintain the number one spot at the Search engines all the time. Other webmasters will overtake you sooner or later. However, this does not diminish the importance of Search Engine Optimization. For long-term success, SEO and an effective email marketing campaign are needful.

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Mistakes Made In Email Opt-In Usability

The reader needs motivation in order to subscribe for emails from a company. This is the very first step towards increasing the email opt-in rate. The website should have display the benefits of subscribing. Simple, nondescript boxes inhabit the homepage which say ‘Subscribe to the company’s newsletter’ and nothing more than that. There is lack of reason why the user should sign up unless they already find the content of the website interesting. It is agreed upon by many that the content should be kept basic. But how basic is the question. Lonely sign up boxes are a big no-no. There should at least be a brief promotional line which gives a specific and concrete benefit that would get the reader motivated to fill the box with his email address and click on the sign up button. The promotional matter should answer questions such as ‘Why should the reader sign up for the newsletter?’, ‘What are the solutions being offered by the newsletter?’, and ‘Is the newsletter focused and specific, concentrating on the needs of the reader?’

The same technique is to be used with the type of words and language being used in the promotional copy or more better, on the complete website. The links should be clear and shouldn't have any empty, vague or generic matter. The content should be able to solve the problem which the reader is looking forward to be solved. The readers must be offered with back issues and sample to give them a good idea about what they can expect from future newsletters they will be receiving. 

After the reader signs up, many of them receive a big nothing. They get big blackness and dead silence. The subscriber wants something to happen in his inbox immediately. Therefore, it is a good idea to send a welcome email right away which can include the latest newsletter or sample of the best newsletters. Try to include some email-special offer. At the end of the message tell them they will be expecting such great offers and newsletter in a short while. The new subscriber should feel that he has joined the club and has already received some benefit. He should feel the signing up process worth the effort. The welcome email also does the job of confirming email, which checks for the validity of the email address. 

On one hand there are people who have barely any motivating information on their website and on the other there are people who have too much information on their website. The information is not organized and the users are overwhelmed with innumerable choices. If the company has too many things to offer, it should narrow them down by grouping them into categories. On the basis of these categories, the newsletters too must be sent out. The newsletters should have specific content and any new material posted on the website should be posted in just a link and not more than that. 

The last thing which puts off the subscriber is asking too many questions. In the sign-up page they are asked for their email address only. Next they are linked to the preference page, followed by twenty more pages. This is a really blown opportunity. Initially, it is good to keep it sweet and short by asking information like first name, last name, and email address. Then send them a confirmation email where they can click the link for making choices. Marketers should know where to draw the line. A box asking just for the email address is a great way of not getting any subscriptions.

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Optimizing Your Website For Maximum Traffic

The internet has grown into an extremely major venue for advertisements of all kind. Almost every company has placed ads on the internet. But with thousands of web sites being viewed by billions of people, how can you be sure that your ad is seen by the people who you want to see it? Here are a few ways.

- Advertise on websites similar to your own. You don’t want to advertise on a competitor’s web site, but if you can reach your preferred audience through a similar site, then you will receive more attention.

Be sure to also check the competition on the site you’re trying to advertise on. It is also a good idea to look for other sites that link to the one you’re advertising on. This way, more and more users can see your site.

- Placing ads can be an expensive way to increase traffic. However there are some sites that will “trade” links with you – you advertise for them, they advertise for you. This can be a benefit in 2 ways, because having links placed on your site helps in search engine optimization.

- Pay-per-click is another option for you. You just pay for the ad as many times as the link is clicked. If this sounds better, make sure you have a limit on the daily spending. You can find programs that will assist you in adding keywords that will attract search engines.

- Choose your domain name with great care. Having a domain name that reflects the true content of your site can aid greatly in drawing consumers into your site, and will help them to remember the address.

- Keep your website intelligible! Having lots of search engine keywords can help traffic, but if your site is complete gibberish then the customer might not stick around for very long. So make sure you use keywords efficiently but not excessively.

- Keep track of all your ads. Check frequently how much you've spent on getting your links out. You can find services that allow you to monitor how efficient each site is judging by how much you've spent and how much traffic it has generated. If an ad isn't getting you enough traffic, you might want to consider getting rid of it.

Many think that getting your site to the top of a search engine is difficult, considering tens of thousands of web sites are competing for the spot. This is correct, but this doesn't mean your web site shouldn't be one of the top results.

Strategic deals and publicizing, complete with coherent, useful content can get you to the top of the search results. Instead of battling competitors for the same old keywords, acknowledge these methods and use them. You won’t just see more visitors; you’ll see more sales.

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Skills You Need To Build A Home Internet Business

A home-based business is a great way for those with extra time on their hands to make money. Or for those who want to eliminate the stress that comes from working for others, setting up a home-based business is a perfect solution. It may be a perfect opportunity for you but it will also take a lot of work to get it up and running.

To be able to successfully build a home internet business ask yourself if have the patients to master the skills required to make your venture successful.

1. Getting a Business Plan Together

Having the skills required to be able to develop a successful business plan is paramount for any businessperson. Ask any successful entrepreneur, planning is essential to success. Make sure you have a solid plan before you do anything. Plan your business like you would plan the building of a home. The future of your company is like a business plan blue print.

Before you go and quit your current job to build a home Internet business make sure you do some market research. This is the foundation of your planning. You can then use the research data to effectively plan your business.

2. Can You Sell?

Selling is not always necessary, but with most Internet companies you need to be able to sell in one way or another. Being able to sell the product is usually more important than the product itself. Remember when you build a home internet business a very good idea can go to waste if you are unable to sell it to others.

One excellent way to get ideas is to search the Internet for similar products and see how your competition is selling it. Look at what is working for them and what is not. Knowing your target demographic is key to selling you product. Once you have narrowed that down you can tweak your selling techniques around your customer base.

3. Getting your Product Known

Marketing is a very important business aspect. Having a good marketing strategy is vital for success. The more comprehensive your marketing plan is the better chance you have of succeeding. A cost effective way to market is handing out cards to everyone, including friends and associates. Let everyone know that you own a business.

Try using a professionally made flyer. Make sure they detail every aspect of you business. Start by handing them out in your own neighborhood. Then post them on community bulletin boards. And talk continuously about you business. Word of mouth is the best advertising.

Mastering these three skills will help you build a home Internet business that will prosper. Being your own boss is not always easy but learning these skill will help your business grow. Remember to check and get all necessary license and/or permits. Support from your family and friends is the best help you can ask for.

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Who's Afraid Of Internet Marketing?

It's no wonder so many business owners have the ultimate desire to employ a marketing director. There are so many different means and methods to marketing a company to the public it can be difficult, at best, to mange them all and run a business.

There are certain elements that share a commonality between traditional marketing and online marketing, but there are elements to Internet marketing that may seem foreign to the sensibilities of a traditional marketing specialist.

Some of the more common themes are news items such as press releases that encourage the news media and interested individuals to keep up your firm's latest news. There is also the general commonality of simply getting your name in front of people. The differences often come in the 'how' and 'why' of marketing and not the 'what' and 'should'.

Most businesses understand the need to get people tuned into what their business is doing. Long standing brick and mortar marketing principles would suggest traditional media outlets such as newsprint, radio or television as obvious choices. While these media outlets certainly have a place in marketing, the bulk of successful Internet marketing happens online.

Marketing for the web requires an understanding of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques along with linkable connections scattered throughout the web. What this means is that every time you post on a blog or forum you should make sure a link to your business is included in the signature box. This also means you ask business associates to consider placing a link to your site on their websites.

One of the most cost effective means of advertising your online business will be Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. This is one of the smallest advertisements you will ever see, but they are highly targeted so you have the best chance of reaching prospects that can be turned to customers.

Internet marketing may also mean developing knowledge-based articles or ezines that can readily connect with your customers. Many site owners have either personally developed articles or hired a freelance writer to produce an ebook on the subject of their business that can be passed along to members of their site either through autoresponders or as part of an opt-in membership. These members help you establish a mailing list online. List building techniques include offering a freebie to customers and often result in a very low cost means of growing your contact list.

Internet marketing is vitally important to the establishment and growth of your ecommerce site, but it may require learning a new language and developing new marketing skills. If you can't afford a marketing specialist you can still learn the skills needed to grow your site into a premier online ecommerce destination.

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Evaluating Your Email Marketing

Email marketing can be a very effective way to reach a target audience around the world. However, your marketing efforts may not reach their full potential unless you invest some time, energy and money into evaluating your email marketing strategy. During this evaluation you may determine whether or not the email marketing is helping you to reach your goals. Likewise you can determine if the email marketing is having an adverse affect on your business. This article will discuss the importance of evaluating your email marketing and will also offer some useful advice on how to do this. 

To say that evaluating your email marketing strategy on a regular basis is important is a tremendous understatement. Regularly evaluating your email marketing is not only important it is critical to the success of your business. Failure to evaluate your email marketing strategies can have adverse effects ranging from not producing results to causing you to lose customers to your competitors. 

Consider an email marketing campaign which is not effective because it does not reach the members of the target audience. Some business owners make the fatal mistake of not taking care to ensure their email distribution list features recipients who are extremely interested in the products or services you offer. Business owners who take short-cuts by purchasing large email lists, often find their short-cut did not pay off because the recipients of their marketing emails are simply not interested in the products or services you offer. In this scenario the email marketing is likely to generate very few sales or website visits. However, re-evaluating the email distribution list to include recipients who are interested in your products or services will likely result in significantly more sales and website visits.

Now consider a situation in which your email marketing is being construed as spam by the recipients. If you have taken precautions to ensure your emails are reaching members of your target audience but your emails seem like over the top sales pitches, the members of your email distribution list may view your emails as spam and not take your advertisements seriously. When this happens the member of your email distribution list may be more likely to seek out a competitor when they are in need of products or services rather than making a purchase from you.

Evaluating your email marketing efforts may be formal or informal in nature. If you have specific business goals in mind you might want to consider using whether or not you are on the way to meet this goal as an indication of whether or not the email marketing is working. You can evaluate your email marketing efforts by soliciting customer feedback. Asking customers for their opinions about the email marketing campaign and whether or not they were compelled to make a purchase because of the content, the advertising or some other element. Based on this information you should have a good indication of whether or not the email marketing is effective. If it is not effective you should consider making changes to create more interest in your products or services. The changes you make should reflect the feedback you receive though to ensure you are not making changes which will cause even less interest from the members of the target audience.  

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The Future of Advertising

What's in store in advertising in the future? It's all about creating interactive marketing tools for your business, as well as the addition of new and innovative 'Internet-based social media' in your marketing efforts. This goes to show that the traditional color printing that has been so popular for many years will take a back seat when it comes to advertising campaigns.

And it's all about having a positive response from your target audience. Interactivity is all about that concept. What makes your browsers satisfied means engaging them in experiences that evoke good memories for your clients. The more your interactive marketing gets inviting, the better it is for your target audience to hand over a positive response to your message.

So what else should we expect in the interactive advertising campaign?

There's the use of entertainment for one thing. Website developers and marketers are looking at the advantages of creating a site that not only offers more information than you could think of, but also entertaining to boot. Not only do you get noticed and provide excitement to your target audience, more importantly, you are able to connect with them on more personal level. Hence, expert and smart advertisers use the interactive media to create that engaging relationship with their customers and prospects.

Some of the media vehicles that can help you market your business interactively include blogs, podcasts, online videos, and advergames. Along with these interactive media, marketers have been combining them with traditional media models such as your color printing ads to create that distinction and recognition in their target audience.

Let's take a look at some of the interactive media vehicles:

Blogs

The idea behind a blog is that you are able to tell your story and your opinions, as well as invite viewers to comment on your story. There are many blogs online. In fact, many blogs are able to provide the opportunity for many business owners to interact with their consumers and pool ideas to make their products even more effective. This is what makes blogs so popular - customers are actually able to give their two cent's worth to enhance the product they love or the service they just viewed online. All in all, it provides both clients and technology- minded people the satisfaction of being able to participate in such forums.

Podcasts / Videos

Podcasts and online videos are very entertaining as they are able to provide highly entertaining commercials to demonstrate a product or service or even tell an engaging story that affects the emotions of your consumers. It provides a level of empathy among your customers for your business. YouTube and Google Video are just two of the most popular sites that help you attract attention and interest in your message, not to mention that they generate traffic to your business.

This is the bottom line: utilizing interactive media to increase your market share increases your chances of getting a bigger piece of the market pie. By being closer to your customers via your interactive vehicles can go a long way in helping you build your brand and get you the leads you need to increase your sales and profits.

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Internet Marketing: Getting Back To Basics

Selling online has come a long way since its beginning days in the early nineties. PPC and SEO campaigns, viral video, and blogging are just a few of the promotional vehicles that e-tailers have at their disposal to help them increase their exposure and move their bottom line. But according to veteran Internet marketer Ken McCarthy, of http://TheSystemSeminar.com, online marketers sometimes miss it when they forget that selling online is still about serving the customer.

A Solid Foundation

Advises McCarthy, whose strategies have helped thousands of online retailers achieve success, "Everything that works in Internet marketing works because it follows traditional sales principles. Don't become so focus on implementing the latest and greatest marketing technologies that you lose sight of serving your customers. At the end of the day, this is still a customer service business - regardless of what you sell."

When your main sales venue is the Internet, it can be easy to forget that you're still in the retail business, the same as if you had a storefront on Main Street. Your marketing methods may be different from those of a brick and mortar retailer, but the most important element of your business is, and will always be, your customers. Marketing can help you get their attention and interest, but you're going to have to provide them with good old fashioned customer service to earn their confidence and loyalty.

3 Steps to Successful Service

The common denominator that McCarthy sees among his students who realize the greatest success is that they understand the importance of benefiting their customers, and providing them with something that's of value to them. The following actions can help you lay a solid foundation for good customer relations:

* Carefully consider your offer and make sure it presents a real value to buyers.

* Present your offer in the clearest possible way.

* Concentrate on your solving your customers' problems.

For instance, if your customers want to buy golf clubs, make it easy for them to find and evaluate the products that they're looking for - make your navigation simple and your pictures and descriptions clear. Provide them with a good deal and fast shipment. Help them resolve any issues that arise. A happy customer will be a repeat customer, as well as being an excellent word of mouth advertisement for your E-Biz - which is still the most effective marketing method around.

First Things First

The Internet is a phenomenal tool for entrepreneurs and retailers, and it offers numerous advanced techniques for promoting your products and your eCommerce store. But none of these techniques mean anything without a focus on developing top notch customer relationships. States McCarthy, "We're in a modern business, but at the same time, we're in a very old fashioned business. The idea of providing excellent service seems too simple to some people. However, very few of the students that I see succeed are technical wizards, but every one of them believes that their customers are their top priority."

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Need Help Building A List? Tips For Online Marketers

Most marketers will tell you that building a list is one of the most effective ways to spend your time if you hope to make money online.

Despite this, countless people do not bother to even try, or, having looked at the work required, decide that the effort is just too much. If you have come to think this way, I would seriously suggest that you rethink your marketing strategies. An opt-in list of prospects is one of the most valuable assets you can build. Let's look at that statement a little more closely.

I was talking to a friend and fellow marketer the other day, and we were discussing the relative merits of blogs and mailing lists. He runs a reasonably high traffic blog in the marketing and making money online niche and has built up a fairly decent subscriber base over the past couple of years. He is experienced and makes a full time living online, but, until recently had not focused too much on building a mailing list.

Recently, he changed his approach and began to build his own list and has been amazed by the difference in conversion rates that he has experienced. A mailing to his young list produced 40 sales from one email. A blog post on the subject of the same product produced 1 sale.

As you can imagine, he is now converted and a true believer in the power of owning a list.

This is all well and good, but the things that hold many people back from trying to build a list are often cost related. It costs money for a professional autoresponder - usually a monthly recurring charge, and it's not always easy to persuade people to sign up for yet another list, and it's no simple task to drive traffic to your opt-in forms either.

This is where maintaining a blog and your own website(s) becomes very important. Placing your opt-in form in as many places as possible will increase the chances of tempting new subscribers. You will need something to offer them in exchange for their information too and a free gift of some kind is usually the way to go.

It is a lot of work, and this is the other thing that puts a lot of people off. In terms of return on investment however, the work and the costs really are worthwhile.

There are plenty of free programs out there that claim to do the work for you, but, despite the best efforts of the program designers, most of them fall short for the end user and are really no substitute for your own list.

There is one solution that works very well for the beginner however. It does not require that you have an autoresponder (although if you do it provides for full integration) and you do not need to pay for the service.

It works on a very simple principle, that goes a step beyond traditional viral marketing. By using the system to build your list, you will also be helping others to build theirs. It sounds so simple it's a wonder that not more people have caught on to it but the results can be quite impressive. The marketer who invests in the primary software and hosting stands to gain the most of course, as he or she will reap the benefits of the viral effect in spectacular fashion, but it doesn't detract from the benefits for everyone else.

If you are still hesitant about building an opt-in list of your own, don't put it off for too much longer, because the sooner you begin, the sooner you will see the rewards. 

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Knowledge Is Your Most Valuable Marketing Tool

Without a doubt, knowledge is your most valuable marketing tool. It is the essential and necessary element needed to succeed in any marketing venture. This holds especially true for Internet Marketing.

The right marketing knowledge will save you time, money and a whole lot of stress.

But where does one acquire such knowledge? Where does one find the necessary information you need to market successfully online? And just HOW does one go about acquiring such knowledge?

Internet marketing is a relatively new field. The Internet itself is a relatively new phenomenon, created within the living memory of most of the people reading this article. Most of its now common features... search engines, online stores, email, websites, blogging... are all new inventions for our glorious cyber age.

Take for example, one of the Net's major players Google; it has only been crawling and searching the Net since 1998 - who would have believed an 8 year-old could wheel so much power and influence?

Other players such as Amazon, Yahoo, Ebay, MSN... are all just new kids on the block when compared to the long history of marketing.

Like any industry, business or field of study - Internet Marketing has produced its own experts. People who have mastered the art of web marketing from first-hand experiences, lessons learnt and drawn from the trenches - the most trustworthy of all knowledge. Valuable knowledge they can use again and again to market their wares online.

This knowledge has become a valuable marketing tool for those who have mastered the skills of the trade. It can quickly turn any website into a profitable endeavor, producing income 24/7/365.

Nor should this knowledge be seen as anything magical. Knowledge in any field can produce wealth; think of all the fine craftsmen and artists of old who had to learn a skill and knowledge to produce great priceless pieces of art. Think of the cabbies of London who must acquire the Knowledge of the routes around London in order to make a living.

For that matter, think of any modern profession and you will have to acquire the proper knowledge in order to practice your trade or profession. Internet Marketing is no different. You must acquire the skills and knowledge to market successfully online.

But the question still remains, where does one acquire this knowledge, the real marketing tool you need to succeed online?

One source would surely have to be the experts. Who else will know the answers but the present day Top Internet Marketers? But who are these people? What are their names?

If you surf the web, no doubt you have come in contact with these marketers. Directly or indirectly their handiwork is everywhere. Their ideas, methods, and marketing techniques have influenced most of the sites on the web.

Many of better known ones even have mentoring programs to train and teach their proteges. Acquiring the knowledge could just be a matter of hooking up with one of these so-called marketing gurus.

Where are these elusive creatures hiding? Who are they?

If you're new to Internet Marketing - one good place to start is this site: www.gurudaq.com - it lists some of the major marketers on the web. All these Internet Marketers have opt-in lists and ezines which you can join to get first-hand tips and advice.

Make sure these names has some significance to you: Marlon Sanders, Yanik Silver, Neil Shearing, Ken Evoy, John Reese, Rosalind Gardner, Joel Comm, Jim Daniel, David Vallieres, Willie Crawford...

Many of these Marketers have their own info products which you can purchase to gain more knowledge. Many also have free guides, reports and articles you can learn valuable information from. Most have websites choked full of valuable marketing information, yours for the taking.

One of the saving graces of the Net - it is a vast storehouse of our collective knowledge. We can access that knowledge anytime, anywhere... one large reservoir of marketing knowledge can be found in the online marketing forums. Here are the Top Forums:

Anthony Blake's Entrepreneurial Success Forum  - www.ablake.net/forum/

Michael Green's How To Internet Marketing Forum - www.howtocorp.com/forum/

Allen Gardyne's Associate Programs- www.associateprograms.com/discus/index.php

Willie Crawford's Discussion Corner - www.williecrawford.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi

Jim Daniels CyberMarketing InfoBoardOne - www.network54.com/Forum/184615

Lesley Fountain's Friends In Business Board - www.friendsinbusiness.com/board1/

If you need direct, hands-on Internet Marketing training manuals, try the free Masters Courses offered by SiteSell.com: Net Writing, Action Guide, Affiliate Marketing... are all covered in these excellent handy guides. You can find a link to these free manuals at the end of this article.

Don't forget the pioneers of marketing in general, try to get your hands on copywriting and advertising tips/advice/techniques from marketing Masters of the past: Claude Hopkins, John Caples, Robert Collier and Vic Schwab. Many of their methods can be directly applied to online marketing. Many of their marketing methods and theories still cast a ghostly reflection in all of today's Internet Marketers.

Keep in mind, studying any trade takes some time and effort on your part. So do your homework - study the Masters, past and present! Acquire some of their knowledge, learn some of their skills and yes, model some of their marketing methods and techniques in your own online marketing.

Persevere, examine, harvest and digest the wealth of knowledge that's yours for the taking. Cram if you have too, but acquire as much marketing information as you possibly can. Then apply that knowledge to your own online interests as you would any other marketing tool.

Then the next time you're tempted to buy some expensive piece of marketing software -  go ahead and buy it! But if you have done your homework and studied all your marketing lessons, you will know that knowledge is the one and only marketing tool you need to succeed online. Never forget it! Just keep repeating it...

Knowledge is my most valuable marketing tool.

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Advantages to Making Your Own YouTube Videos

Are you a fan of YouTube?  If you enjoy watching free videos online, from a number of different genres, you may be a huge fan of YouTube.  Although many internet users only watch videos on YouTube, there are many who also post their own YouTube videos.  If you have never done so before, you may be wondering whether or not you really should.  To determine whether or not you should make and upload your own videos to the YouTube website, you will want to examine the advantages or the plus sides to doing so.

Perhaps, the biggest advantage to making your own YouTube videos is that your videos can be just about whatever you want them to be.  Popular videos on YouTube right now include comedy skits, video blogs, how-to videos, and music videos from up and coming artists.  Whether you want to make a video blog of yourself or if you and your friends want to just have fun with a video camera, you can do so. 

Of course, when making a YouTube video you will want to use your best judgment.  Although YouTube accepts videos on a wide variety of different subjects, you will want to proceed with caution.  You should always be cautious of online predators; therefore, you will want to be cautious about divulging too much information about yourself.  You might not necessarily think about it, but you also want to make sure that you don't record and post anything illegal on YouTube.  It has been said that YouTube regularly works with law enforcement to help solve crimes. That just goes to show that you never really who is watching your videos or what the consequences for posting them might be.

Another one of the many advantages or pros to making your own YouTube videos is that it is relatively easy to do.  Of course, you will need to have a video recording device. What is nice is that there are a number of different recording devices that you can use. For instance, many cell phones now come equipped with video recording capabilities.  In addition to cell phones, you should also be able to use traditional camcorders or webcams.  For the best quality YouTube video, you will want to have a movie editing software program.  Movie editing software programs will not only give you the ability to preview your videos, before uploading them to YouTube, but you should also be able to edit them, if you would like to remove something and so on.  

Once you made one of your videos and uploaded it onto your computer, you will find that getting your video uploaded to YouTube's website is just as easy. In fact, that is another one of the many advantages to making your own YouTube videos.  Just like actually making the video itself, uploading a YouTube video is as easy at it can be.  If you have never uploaded a video to YouTube before, you should be able to do, with ease. The YouTube uploading learning curve is so easy that you if you continue to make videos for the YouTube website you will be uploading them and sharing them with the internet community in no time at all.  

Another benefit of making your own videos and uploading them to YouTube comes after the fact.  After you have uploaded your videos to YouTube and they are available for viewing, anyone with an internet connection can visit the YouTube website to view your videos.  This means that just one of you videos may be seen by thousands of people!  In fact, if those viewers are registered members of YouTube they can rate your YouTube videos or even leave comments for you.  This feature is nice because it gives you positive and sometimes even negative feedback; feedback that can be taken into consideration if and when you choose to make any more YouTube videos. 

As you can see, there are a number of pros or advantages to making your own videos to share on YouTube.  As you likely know, there are also a number of disadvantages to doing so as well, including safety.  However, as long as you display caution when making a YouTube video or when talking with other YouTube members, your YouTube video making experience should be a positive one.

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Social Media Marketing - Goals and Effectiveness

Social Media Marketing (SMM) is a form of internet marketing, which seeks to achieve branding and marketing communication goals through the participation in various social media networks like You Tube, My Space, and Facebook, social web application like digg, delicious, reddit, Wiki. The goal of each SMM program varies from business to business, but mainly involves building of brand awareness, increasing visibility and through this, sells a product or service.

Social Media Marketing is becoming an essential marketing tool for connecting with customers and optimizing online presence. Social Media describes the tools and platforms, people use to publish, converse and share content online. Video, podcast, blogs, discussion boards and social networking sites are all tools, online businessmen can use to build relationship with their customers and keep them on websites longer. Social media provides more opportunities for organizations to present optimized content that can be indexed by search engines and ultimately improves site rating.

To implement some of the social media elements, it is first important to evaluate your customers to create an effective strategy. If your consumers are professionals who commute, then pod cast can be downloaded and can be very effective.

Posting video content on YouTube is a unique opportunity to improve your position in Google’s universal search results. With YouTube, customers can visit the site, view your video and easily post to their own blogs, social networking profiles or websites. YouTube is a great way to reach a broader viewer and generate buzz around new products, especially if your product has a visual appeal.

Building healthy relationship with the customer, that last is an on-going process for a businessperson. Social media takes this a step further by making that relationship personal through blogs. It tells about you, not only about your product or service.

A blog, which includes video, pictures and text, can build interest and loyalty among customers and a new way to search engine optimization. Create a page dedicated to community with website visitors and this will be interactive.

Social media encourages social visits to your site. Keep adding content to encourage customers to return regularly. With the advent of social media, consumers have become contributors, contributing to brand messaging. SMM is related to other online tactics such as SEO, SMO. It has a more active planned role in directing, influencing and suggesting the community members.

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