List-Building; List Training

I would rather promote a squeeze page than a sales page any day. A lot of
other big list owners get all wimpy, and say, "I don't want to promote to a
squeeze page and give everybody my list." Basically that's what you call
whussy thinking.

What they're saying is, "There are not enough subscribers out there for me
to make money, so I don't want to give mine away by promoting you."

Then why the heck are you doing affiliate marketing anyway if you're not
going to properly promote other people?

I would rather someone have a 400-part email autoresponder follow-up
sequence in place so that as soon as I drive traffic to a squeeze page they
sign-up and are hammered until they either buy or leave that list. I would
rather have that any day of the week because your long-term responsiveness
will increase because of the follow-up.

Do I follow up with people when they opt in to my sequences?
Yes, like crazy! There are ten or 12 emails in that series that people get
when they opt in.

There are other reasons to do it this way. For example, you can train your
list to opt in to other people's lists, and therefore, the better results
you're going to get long-term. If you can get your list to opt into squeeze
pages on a regular basis, then every time you have a teleseminar and
everything else, you're going to get higher conversion ratios on squeeze
pages from people in your list.

Your list will be trained to convert. I believe that is one of the reasons
that I do so well-I do that relentlessly.

Whenever I'm giving business advice to people I say, "You're going to have a
product and you're going to sell through affiliates and affiliates are going
to drive traffic-you're dumb not to have a squeeze page."

You're dead stupid if you don't have a squeeze page in front of that, in my
opinion. Maybe at some point that will change for some reason, but right now
I live and breathe it.

When you're congruent that way and when you'll promote someone else's
squeeze page, when it comes time for you to have a product, then you can
just go to those same people who you promoted their squeeze page for and
say, "I'd like you to promote my product and here's why: You should
definitely go ahead and drive traffic to the squeeze page because I'll do
great follow-up just like you did."

If you do this, you'll end up working with people who are good at list
building instead of people who are just out to make a buck or sell some
product. List building is building a long-term relationship with people. No
matter which way you cut it, that is the deal.

About The Author: Tellman Knudson, master list builder and CEO of
OvercomeEverything, Inc. relays some of his most effective methods of
building a list in his new online course http://MyFirstList.com (
http://myfirstlist.com ).

Tips For People Who Hate Writing In Providing Articles On Their Web Sites

Internet is all about providing information to people. Nowadays the amount
of people who are using this medium is increasing rapidly. Many internet
marketers know that people want information from their websites and not just
SEO enriched pages of advertising. As a website owner you can give any
information on the internet by providing articles on your site. By creating
an article and optimizing each page for a separate keyword you can get
search engines to include you in the results when users search for specific
word or phrase.

In addition marketing by articles have become increasingly popular in the
last few years. A lot of products related to article marketing such as
article submitter and article rewriter have been created to support it.

Unfortunately, although providing articles are crucial to keep ahead in
internet business, there is one dilemma. Not many people like writing
articles or have time to write them, and hiring people to write for you is
not cheap. The good news is there are some options available to provide
articles on your website.

You can use free articles which has the same subject or topic as you want
from article directory. But it is not wise to only provide such contents on
your website since they would have resource boxes that could link or direct
your visitors to other site.

Another option is public domain contents. They are freely given to the
public for public use and you can do whatever you want with it, including
put your name as the author. Just choose public domain contents that are
very relevant with the theme of your website.

But there is a disadvantage of using public domain articles.
Because they are free, many people may also use the same contents with
yours. It could be predicament since your website needs to be unique.
Duplicated contents are not good both for search engines and visitors.

Another resource to get free articles which are free to edit is sites that
provide articles and ebooks with private label rights. Because the contents
are not free there will not be many people that use the exact same articles
with yours. It can even be better if you create an article from some parts
of a PLR ebook since not many people do it. But you should also edit them a
bit so that there is no possibility that search engines and visitors will
see the same contents they have seen on a multitude of other sites.

If you don't have time to rework public domain or PLR contents but still
want to make them look original you can hire someone to do it for you. There
are people who do part time that charge only minimal fees for this job.
Unique and useful articles are important tools you should utilize to improve
and explode your online business.

About The Author: Heris Yunora http://www.soft-promotion.com - Private Label
Web Content and Tools

Ezine Articles - A Free Way To Speed Up Submitting To Directories

Writing ezine articles and submitting them to article directories is a great
way of getting free Internet advertising. As well as attracting human
visitors to your web site, you will be obtaining the one-way back links to
your web site the search engines value so highly.

To make the most out of every article you write, you should submit them to
as many article groups and article directories as possible. There are a few
different ways to do this: you could subscribe to an article submitting
service, you could purchase software to enable you to submit your articles
yourself, you could manually submit your articles. Manual submissions can
be very time consuming but, if you are working on a small budget, manual
submission might be your only option at first. An easy way to speed up the
submitting process and save you hours of boring cutting, pasting and
clicking is to work with a tabbed browser. The most popular tabbed browser
is Mozilla Firefox and most people who try Firefox swear they would never
revert back to Internet Explorer. If you follow these instructions step by
step, you will make article submitting much easier and quicker.

Download Mozilla Firefox free of charge.

1 Open a new page by clicking "file" and then "new tab"
from the drop down menu or by typing Ctrl+T.

2 Type or paste in the address of an Ezine directory to get
the site on screen. Don't log in yet, you want to be at
your log in page each time you open it.

3 Click for another new tab and do the same thing.

4 When you have opened as many tabs as you want (8 or 10 is perfectly
manageable) click on "Bookmarks" on the toolbar.

5 Select "Bookmark all tabs" from the dropdown menu.

6 In the box that appears, click the far right arrow to show all bookmark
folders, select "new folder" and type in the name you want to give the
group. There is no limit to the number of groups you can create. So, if you
are submitting to 100 directories, they can be split into ten groups.

To add more sites to any particular group:

1 you do the same steps up to and including 4.

2 click on the first choice in the drop down menu, "Bookmark this page" and
select a group where you want to
place the new site. Deleting moving, renaming, moving
bookmarks etc is simple (click on "Bookmarks" and select "Manage
bookmarks").

To open a saved group you click on "Bookmarks", scroll down to the group you
want and click on "open in tabs" at the bottom of the list of urls.

When you open a group, all of your sites will automatically load within one
browser window and you'll see the individual tabs for easy navigation. Once
you have saved all the sites in groups, you can open them all at the same
time and log in. Before logging in, copy and paste your article and your
resource box into Notepad. For the sake of easy copying, have the title,
article body and resource box on separate lines with a space between each
one. Also copy in (again on separate lines) the keywords associated with
the article and the brief introductory summary most article directories
require.

Now click each tab in turn, log into the article directory website and click
to the submission page. When you are logged in and at the submission page
of all the directories in the group, go to your Notepad and copy your
article title. Work through pasting the title of your article into the
appropriate space in the submission page at each directory. Then copy the
article body from Notepad and work through from the first directory to the
last pasting in the article. Do the same thing with the keywords, resource
box and summary. As you paste in the final item at each directory, click on
submit and you're done.

This is much, much faster than going between your article and the directory
websites copy/pasting title, article, resource box, keywords and summary at
each site individually and it makes the process far easier on your mouse
hand.

----------------------------------------------------
You will find more time-saving tips and useful home business resources at
Elaine Currie's Work At Home Directory http://www.HuntingVenus.com

Secrets to Finding a Hot Niche Market on the Internet

Are you interested in starting an Internet business? Have you read the
numerous success stories of Internet entrepreneurs that are making thousands
of dollars from the comfort of their own home? The idea of running your own
Internet business is exciting, but you may not know where to begin.

Many entrepreneurs new to the Internet marketplace have concerns about what
product and/or service they should offer. What is a hot topic in the
Internet business world today and in the future? Following are common
situations and questions regarding starting your own Internet business and
finding the niche market of your dreams.

Situation #1: I am new to the Internet business world.
Where can I find hot topics in the market? How can I find niche products
that are in high demand, but have little competition? Is this possible?

Internet Guru Secret Answer: Don't worry about the competition a product
may or may not have. If you have an exceptional product and great marketing
then you will be able to squash any competition out there.

The best way to determine what topics are currently "hot"
in the marketplace is to check out EBay at http://www.ebay.com.

Click on
the "SELL" button at the top of the EBay website. A list of the top selling
products on eBay will appear. This will give you a great idea of what
products and services are in high demand. Take time to learn about the
current top searches for products.

You can find out what Internet visitors are searching for on EBay and fill
in the gaps. Create a market of your own that offers the products and
services EBay customers'
desire. Also research the largest stores on EBay to find out the products
that are their best sellers.

In addition to EBay you can always fall back on the time tested hot topics
of sex, God, and money. Products and services about these topics are always
in high demand.

Situation #2: I have a few product ideas in mind. How can you determine if
there is a large enough demand for a product? Do you check the number of
searches for the type of product on the Internet search engines and/or
keyword search programs? Will this give you an accurate picture of the
level of demand?

Internet Guru Secret Answer: Listen to the marketplace.
You can accomplish this task in a variety of ways. You can send an email
regarding your type of product through an affiliate program. If the email
proves successful then you can consider creating a product similar to the
affiliate's product.

You can also request feedback from your subscriber list.
Ask subscribers if they know where to find certain information and products
in your potential product niche.
Subscribers love to give feedback about what they can and can't find. You
can find a new market in the areas where your subscriber's can't find the
products and services they want/need.

Another idea is to survey your subscriber list to find out their most
pressing problem. Then create a product or service that solves this
problem.

Search engines and keyword programs are a good place to start, but you can't
always rely on them. For example, if you searched for the keyword phrase
"Internet Marketing" it would only show about 860 hits. However, several
Internet marketing gurus will tell you that Internet marketing is a hot
topic as evidenced by the high number of attendees at their seminars.
Therefore, search engines and keyword programs may not give the entire
picture.

----------------------------------------------------
Matt Bacak became "#1 Best Selling Author" in just a few short hours. Recent
Entrepreneur Magazine's e-Biz radio show host is turning Authors, Speakers,
and Experts into Overnight Success Stories. Discover The Secrets To Unleash
The Powerful Promoter In You! Sign up for Matt Bacak's Promoting Tips Ezine
($100 value) just visit his website at http://www.powerfulpromoter.com or
http://promotingtips.com

How to Drive Traffic to Your Website Part 05

With an affiliate program, you will be recruiting affiliates to advertise
your product or link. Every time one of your affiliates makes a sale for
your site, they get a percentage of the profits. Affiliate programs are a
great ways to get hundreds of people promoting your site for you. ClickBank
is probably one of the most widely used affiliate sites out there, so if you
want to start an affiliate program for your site, that would be a good
starting point. There is a fee to use ClickBank, however.
If you want to try out an affiliate program without paying, there are sites
like PayDotCom. They are free, but you probably won't get as many affiliates
as you would with ClickBank.

Now let's take a look at another way to bring visitors to your site -- by
providing them a valuable resource:

Starting a Newsletter. Starting a newsletter, ezine, or community can be a
fantastic way to bring repeat traffic to your site. So by all means, if you
can provide a newsletter once a week, then do so. A newsletter, ezine or
even a discussion community builds a loyal subscriber base and brings more
traffic from referrals to your site. You can put a subscription box on your
website with some information about your newsletter. Then, all subscribers
have to do is enter their email address, which will be sent to your
database. There are a variety of programs out there that can help you start
a newsletter, some of them
for free. To get started with a basic newsletter, check
out the free software at the ideamarketers web site. This is a good
starting point, although there are many other free newsletter software
programs you can find as well.
When your newsletter gets bigger with more subscribers, you can always move
to a more advanced newsletter program that costs.

Offering Something for Free. Offering your visitors something for free can
also be a great way to bring traffic to your site. You could offer a free
ebook, for example.
If people can obtain something free, they're more likely to visit your site.
Not only that, but then you can submit your site to the freebie and free
stuff directories out there. People seeking freebies will then come across
your site and visit. Not only that, but your link in the free directories
counts as a backlink! If you do end up using this tactic, be sure that your
site offers lots of quality content. Your visitors may come for the
freebie, but they stay, and return, for the content!

In Closing, bringing traffic to your website is an ongoing process. Let's
take a look at the steps we've discussed:
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Quality Content Dynamic Content Lots of
Backlinks Buying Ad Space Starting a Newsletter Giving Something Away All of
these steps can be used together to bring the most traffic possible to your
site. Building a great site certainly doesn't happen overnight, so be
patient and keep at it. With diligence and attention, you can take your
website to the top!

----------------------------------------------------
Steve Renner, Author, Marketing Expert, Marketing Director, The Affiliate
Community http://www.affiliatecommunity.com

Basics of Making Money Online

As with any way to make money, the best way of making money online is to
follow your passions. First find something you love to do, then find a way
to use it for making money online.

There are many websites with ideas for making money online.
Some are scams, but many have good ideas. To start making money online, look
through sites that offer ideas in the field you are intersted in. Remember
that making money online is still a job, and you want a job that you like.

Once you have narrowed down your ideas, consider costs. If you are on a
budget, it will narrow down your ideas even more. For any program that you
have to buy into, find other people who have worked in the program to see if
it really made them any money. Some people make money online by selling
programs that don't work that well. Make sure the costs involved in the
program you are buying make sense. If they do, and if you find others who
have been successful, you might be on the right track.

You also need to consider your time commitment. Find a way to make money
online that won't take up all of your spare time if you are already working
a full time job.

Once you have determined how you plan to make money online, spend the time
you need. Many people start an online business but lose interest and quit.
Find a business that you love so you want to stay with it. Finding a way to
do what you love is the best way to make money online.

Ways For Making Money Online

There are actually many different ideas for making money online. Some of
them are obviously more lucrative than others, however. Also, there are many
scams for supposedly making money online that don't really work, and you end
up losing money.

As a general rule, if the online money making opportunity asks for money, it
is probably not a good thing. Legitimate ways to make money online will not
ask you for money to get the job. The only exception to this is for home
businesses.
Many home businesses require an upfront investment from you. If you decide
that a home business is the best way to go for making money online, then you
will probably have to spend some money to get started. However, many people
have been very successful with home businesses.

One way that people are making money online is by having several different
income streams. This means that you do a bunch of things online that make a
little bit of money, which turns out to be a reasonable amount of money when
you add them all up. For instance, some people fill out surveys, do some
writing, read emails, sell things on Ebay or even do affiliate marketing.
These are all ways to have multiple streams of income making money online.

There are actual jobs available online. However, there is a lot of
competition for them. Telecommuting from home is one of the best ways for
making money online. You need to have an excellent resume and to do a lot of
research to find the companies that are hiring people with your skills.

To make money online, you have to find the opportunities.
Until you are making the kind of money you would like to, don't quit your
day job.

----------------------------------------------------
Home based business ideas and opportunities.
http://www.modernrusticltd.com

Starting An Affiliate Marketing Business

There are two major decisions to make when starting an affiliate marketing
business. First of all one must choose from thousands of affiliate programs
to promote. Secondly is what methods to use to drive traffic to an
affiliate website to start earning commissions.

The best way to choose an affiliate program is to first choose a topic of
interest. It is much easier to promote a program that one finds
interesting. Clickbank has a marketplace where affiliate programs on nearly
any topic
can be found to promote. The amount of commissions an
affiliate program pays is also a very important consideration. A good
affiliate program should in almost all cases pay at least a 20 dollar
commission. Also when starting an affiliate marketing business it is best
to focus on a single affiliate program rather than try and promote several
at the same time.

The fastest way to drive traffic to an affiliate site is to use google
adwords. Adwords can be a very effective way to
generate quality targeted traffic and sales. However
anyone new to affiliate marketing should learn as much as possible before
using google adwords due to the potentially high amount of competition and
cost of traffic.

Blogs are another excellent affiliate marketing tool to generate targeted
traffic. Blogs that are frequently updated with relevant and useful
information centered around a single topic often receive traffic from the
search engines. It's also important for a blog to provide a RSS feed to be
successful at drawing in traffic. Links can be put in the text of the blog
to send traffic to an affiliate site.

Another way to send targeted traffic to an affiliate site
is to write articles and publish them online. This
affiliate marketing method works because the article along with the
affiliate link is generally reprinted on many websites of similar topics and
traffic will come from these sites. Also articles often can be found
ranking high in search engine results.

Advertising in ezines is another option for sending traffic to an affiliate
website. To be effective advertising platform an ezine should be about a
topic very closely related to the affiliate site.

Traffic exchanges can also be used as an effective affiliate marketing tool.
The quality of traffic from exchanges is much less than other sources
however the potential volume of traffic received from exchanges makes using
them appealing.

All the traffic methods outlined have certain advantages and also drawbacks.
It's important to use multiple ways to promote a site to be successful at
affiliate marketing.

----------------------------------------------------
Aaron Ballantyne owns a blog with useful information and links to resources
about affiliate marketing. To learn more go to:
http://ajballan.typepad.com/affiliate_marketing

Affiliate Marketing Versus Network Marketing

When it comes to making money online, a lot of people wonder if they should
go with affiliate marketing or network marketing. If you talk to an
affiliate marketer, they'll probably tell you that affiliate marketing is
the best way to go. If you talk to a network marketer, they'll certainly
tell you that network marketing is definitely your best bet.

I've done both, and I'll tell you the answer - it depends. Each has its
advantages and disadvantages. Fortunately, you can make money with both.

Since affiliate marketing is a bit simpler, let's cover that one first. With
affiliate marketing whenever you sell a product for someone else, you get
paid a commission. The commission varies depending on the company, but
30-50% is common in the information product business. For physical products,
10-20% is typical.

All you need to do is refer the business and you're responsibility is done.
The owner of the product takes care of the fulfillment and customer service.
All you need to worry about is making sales to get paid.

Network marketing is a little different. In network marketing, you make
money not only on the sales you make directly, but you also profit when the
people underneath you sell something and you profit when the people under
them sell something as well.
(The number of levels down varies by company but they all usually go at
least three levels deep.) The idea of making money on other peoples' work
appeals to a lot of people, which helps explain why network marketing is
such a popular business.

At first, it may seem that network marketing is substantially better than
affiliate marketing. However, keep in mind that the percentage you make on
your own sales in network marketing is substantially lower than the
percentage you typically make from affiliate sales.

If you want to make a lot of money with network marketing, you need to do
more than just make your own sales. You also need to motivate the people
underneath you to make sales and teach them to help their own people make
sales. Your role in network marketing isn't just that of a salesperson. You
also need to take on the role of a teacher.

In affiliate marketing, the role of a teacher isn't necessary.
If you don't want to worry about having to motivate other people to take
action, then affiliate marketing is probably a better choice for you since
you'll only be depending on what you do to make money.

If you enjoy teaching and working with people, then network marketing is
probably the better choice for you to make.

Either way, you're making a choice that can make you plenty of money if
you're willing to put the time and effort in.

About The Author: Gary Ruplinger is an Internet marketer whose been involved
in both network marketing and affiliate marketing. To learn about affiliate
marketing, visit http://www.projectxresults.com and to learn more about
network marketing visit http://www.mlmfx.com

Website Traffic

Millions of people use the Internet every hour of every day.
So, how come no one is visiting your website?

If you are frustrated by the fact that your website is not receiving the
traffic you think it deserves, you need to learn some tactics to increase
website traffic. Chances are, you could be in information overload learning
about website traffic tactics, but you just don't understand any of it. Your
website is constantly receiving harassing offers of loans on your credit
card to 'guarantee' Google clicks, your website has dropped from Google
search results entirely, and you don't have the money to invest in viable
website traffic tactics. The good news is that there are free ways that you
can increase website traffic.

Mega Success with Meta Tags

Meta tags are elements of your website that help search engines describe
your page. You can increase website traffic by making sure that your Meta
tags contain keywords that target your business and are most often used by
Internet users.
Manipulating Meta tags is easy for anyone who's adept with HTML aspects of
web pages.

Hit the Links

Linking to and from other websites is still the most effective and widely
used method of boosting website traffic. You need to be prudent in choosing
the sites you connect to, and make sure that they are not related too
closely to your own business.
Don't overdo it, because too many links can get you banned from search
engines altogether.

Smart, and Rich

Fill your website with articles that provide solid, sensible information
about your business. Use tools like Overture to find the keywords and
phrases that will bring the most traffic to your site, and then incorporate
these words and phrases into your written articles. Make your content
readable and genuinely informative to ensure visitors will not only come
back to your website, but will also become paying customers. The articles
that you write can also be submitted to various article directory listings.
Affiliate websites may choose your articles to use, and give credit to you
through a web link. This provides greater visibility for your business.

When employed properly, these methods will result the increased numbers of
website hits you need, and can lead to a higher conversion rate. Ultimately,
that means more money in your pocket.

About The Author: Lisa Moore writes articles for several web magazines,
including http://pobod.com and http://tenip.com

How to Drive Traffic to Your Website Part 04

Dynamic content is defined as that special something extra that keeps
visitors coming back for more and makes your site more interesting. Dynamic
content might be things like a message board, search box, polls, RSS feeds,
and other fun extras. However, don't get carried away. If you have quality
content on your site, only a few pieces of dynamic content are all that's
necessary.

Buying Ad Space

Another effective way of driving traffic to your website is by purchasing
advertising space. You can purchase ad space at a wide variety of places.
For example, you can use the Google Adwords program. With Adwords, you bid
on search terms and positions. When someone performs a Google search,
they'll see the sponsored site adds on the right hand side of the screen.
These are Adwords ads.

You can also buy banner ads on popular websites. Another great place to
advertise is on blogs. There are thousands of popular blogs out there that
can showcase your site ad for a fee.

Then there are ezines, which can also be great places to purchase ad space.
When advertising in ezines, go for text ads rather than banner ads. It's a
scientifically proven fact that people are learning to overlook banner ads,
making them less effective than a simple text ad. One handy method of
getting your site ad in ezines is to write for them. Often, ezine owners
will trade you a little ad space in exchange for your article.

While purchasing ad space can certainly be an effective way to bring
visitors to your site, let's examine some tactics that may not be so good.

One of them is buying credits at traffic exchange sites.
These sites are usually looked down on by search engines, because it's like
forcing traffic. Plus, the traffic you're getting is coming from other
people who are only clicking through sites so that they can earn their own
credits. What happens is a vicious cycle. Not only do you not get quality
traffic, your site could get penalized or dropped by search engines. So be
sure to steer clear of any site that guarantees you traffic in this way.

Now let's take a look at yet another way to bring visitors to your site --
with a press release.

Writing a Press Release

Press releases are basically announcements that are distributed to
journalists, newspapers, websites, and periodicals. When writing a press
release, keep the point of view in the third person and write an
attention-getting yet informative article about your site and what it has to
offer. To get your press release out there, try a site like prweb. This is
not by any means the only press release site out there you can use -- with a
simple search you can find lots of places to submit your press release.

Then, there's the option of starting your own affiliate program. Let's take
a look at how an affiliate program can bring quality traffic to your site:

----------------------------------------------------
Steve Renner
Author, Marketing Expert
Marketing Director
The Affiliate Community
http://www.affiliatecommunity.com

Getting Rich on the Internet and Investing Online

Is it possible to make a fortune on the internet? Think about the founders
of Amazon, eBay, and Yahoo. They are among those who have made a fortune on
the internet.

Many websites sell systems for making a fortune on the internet. Buying
these is more likely to make money for the seller than for you. A better way
to get ideas is to go to your local library and check out books discussing
how to make a fortune on the internet. Do it for ideas, but remember that
these books were written to make money for the author. It doesn't mean that
what they say actually works.

People who make a fortune on the internet have a dream and are willing to go
for it. Often they invest money. To make a fortune on the internet, it helps
to be among the first to identify a need, like eBay did with internet
auctions.
If your product is among the first, you have little competition.

To make a fortune on the internet you have to promote well.
Yahoo and eBay are both an enormous success, but they had to let people know
they existed to get started. If you have no traffic, you have no customers.

You can make a million in the internet. Just remember that it will take a
lot of hard work. To make a million on the internet is not much different
from making a million in the real world. Identify a unique market, learn
all you can about it, and promote it well. From there, don't just sit back
and watch it grow. Learn from it and keep improving to grow your client
base. This is the best way to make a fortune on the internet.

Investing Online

Not so long ago the stock market seemed as if it was in a never-ending
upward spiral. Stories were everywhere about people who took advantage of
stock opportunities. Many of them saved money by foregoing the traditional
stockbroker and doing it themselves. They learned about making money
investing online.

If you are interested in making money investing online, you first need to
know something about stocks. You can make money investing online by
investing in online stocks and by using an online broker. Remember that you
will be responsible for your choices. Stocks go up and down, and sometimes
even the pros make mistakes. If you are comfortable with your stock picking
skills you are probably best using an online broker instead of a real world
broker.
This will save you countless dollars in commission. If you are good at
picking stocks, you might find yourself making a lot more money doing it by
yourself.

Choosing an online broker also requires research. You want a broker that
offers good price and fast execution of your stock order. Beyond that, look
at what the various online brokers offer and pick the one to best suit your
needs.

Online tools that can help you with stock research include Wall Street
Research, Morningstar, access to SEC filings, real time stock quotes,
various newsletters, and sites with company research. Using these tools
takes time, so it helps to initially follow the old advice of investing in
businesses you know. If you enjoy this kind of research and like picking
your own stocks, making money investing online is a good option for you.

----------------------------------------------------
Internet Business Ideas and Opportunities http://www.modernrusticltd.com

Maximize Your Profit from Your Mailing List

When you gather your email/customer list you pay heavily for the privilege.

If you use search engines you'll spend huge amounts of time and persistence
building - and retaining - your position.
If you use pay-per-click you'll spend from a few cents to many dollars on
clicks only a small proportion of which will generate actual sales. If you
use any of the 'free'
advertising systems you'll discover they are not really free, they all cost
money or time. If you use Affiliates the commission could be anything from
50 to 75%. You may not have to carry risk but it does cost money.

To increase the price even further, ON AVERAGE 50 to 60% of customers will
buy one thing (or have one visit) and never come back. This is an 'iron-clad
average' in the direct selling business. This may not seem to matter in cash
flow terms; after all you DID sell something. But it does mean that the
cost of the real, multi-purchase customers is even higher. Your email list
is an expensive asset, very expensive. And it gets worse!

When they arrive on the list, you don't know which are going to buy
eventually, which of those that buy are one-timers, and when the
multi-buyers are going to elect to leave you. You react to this by doing
two things: (1) you spend dollars, time and energy marketing and sending
promotions to your whole list as you don't know who is going to buy and (2)
you continue to build the list through the same expensive approaches you
used initially, effectively playing a 'numbers game'.

You are leaving a lot of money on the table. If you could do better than
average finding multi-purchase customers (someone does, it is after all an
average), if you could direct your promotions to those most likely to buy,
if you could retain those 'hot' customers longer.. Clearly there is a lot of
room to improve profits. So what is the secret to success?

The Secret

It's much less expensive to retain customers than it is to acquire new ones.
Academic research bears this out*:

** The cost of acquisition occurs only at the beginning of a relationship,
so the longer the relationship, the lower the amortized cost.

** Long-term customers tend to be less inclined to switch and tend to be
less price sensitive. This can result in stable unit sales volume and
increases in dollar-sales volume.

** Long-term customers tend to initiate free word of mouth promotions and
referrals.

** Long-term customers are more likely to purchase ancillary products and
high margin supplemental products.

** Regular customers tend to be less expensive to service because they are
familiar with the process, require less "education", and are consistent in
their order placement.

All this turns into three rules for success in managing your email list:

Rule #1: When you have a valuable customer - hold on to her. 'Her': yes,
women control over 80% of all retail spending!

Rule #2: Try to make less valuable customers more valuable over time. Do
this by creating and executing promotions that focus on customers that will
respond. Isolating those who will respond means focusing on their buying
behavior -
hint: someone who has bought from you is MUCH more likely to buy again.

Rule #3: Acquire the types of customer who will be worth retaining in the
first place. But, where do you find them?
Link your high spending customers to the places you sourced them, then go
back to that well. If you get your best customers from pay-per-click on
Yahoo! Then go back to Yahoo! for more

Remember the old adage: "The money is in the list". Well it is, but there is
more to maximizing your profits than simply mailing out offers. It's no
surprise that the truly profitable web sites have their roots on established
direct mail expertise.

*Source: Buchanan, R. and Gilles, C. (1990) "Value managed
relationship: The key to customer retention and profitability", European
Management Journal, vol 8, no 4, 1990.

----------------------------------------------------
Michael Kay edits the * Insights Letter* and *The Home-Based Business
Review*. These are FREE publications stuffed with ideas, access to resources
and free gifts.
Subscribe now at http://www.HBBReview.com .
To find out more about managing your mailing list and web business in
general find "Making Money from Your List" at
http://www.HBBReview.com/Main_Index.html

Affiliate Marketing: Why Is It a Good Home Business?

Affiliate marketing is now one of the most popular ways people do to start a
very lucrative home business. It is a fact that some people have earned a
lot of money in affiliate marketing that they have quit their regular jobs
and dedicated all their time for this particular home business.

Affiliate marketing is so popular nowadays because of the high potential
income that people can earn through this home-based business. Starting an
affiliate business doesn't cost much and there is very little risk involved.

Firstly, you have to know how you can profit from an affiliate business and
how it works.

Affiliate business is like selling a product or service of another website
that you are affiliated with. Once visitors in your website clicks on your
link to the affiliate website who actually sells the product or services and
purchases from that website, you will earn a commission based on the product
the visitor from your website brought.

Now that you know how affiliate business works and how you can earn money
from it, you now have to know what you need in order to start an affiliate
program home-based business.

First of all, you will need a website. You don't even need to have a
personal website. All you need is a free website or a free blog site. You
have to remember that not all affiliate programs will require you to have
your own website. However, most major affiliate programs do.

But if you don't want to spend money on a personal website, you can always
apply for an affiliate program that doesn't require you to have your own
website. However, it is always better to have your personal website because
major affiliate programs are more profitable than other affiliate programs
that don't even need a personal website in order for you to join. Besides,
you won't be spending a lot of money to start your website. It is relatively
cheap. You only have to pay a small amount of fee for the usage of the
website space every year.

The second step is by thinking about what your website content will be.
Think about your hobby. If you like guns then put some articles about guns
and share your own opinions about the best guns in your website. You can
also put in some pictures of you in the shooting range and you can also put
a discussion board or a message posting site where your visitors can express
their opinions.

The next step is by joining major affiliate networks that sells popular
products. Since your website is about guns or firearms, you should also be
affiliated to major companies that sell firearms, firearms parts, hunting
website, shooting website and others. Always remember that the key to all
this is targeted traffic. Besides, you wouldn't expect someone to be
interested in your affiliate program that sells dolls if your website is
about cars. The point to all this is that your affiliate website should be
related to the topic of your website in order to get your visitors to click
on the affiliate banner ads and purchase things from your affiliate company.

Now that your website is up and running and you already set up your
affiliate program, the next thing to do is promote your website by promoting
the products and services that you are discussing in your site. You can
publish some articles about your hobby in article publishing sites. This
will build your reputation and also get targeted traffic to go to your site.
The "promoting your website" stage is where you should work hard on. Always
remember that you should frequently update your website in order to keep
your visitors happy and let them continue visiting and also let them
continue visiting the affiliate website and purchase from them. By doing
this, you will be able to have and maintain a constant amount of commissions
for every product sold.

----------------------------------------------------
Steven Gerber is a professional copywriter & marketing consultant. He is a
protégé of Dan Lok, the World's #1 Website Conversion Expert, & in Steven's
totally biased opinion simply THE BEST. You will find the latest internet
marketing techniques & tricks at:
http://www.websiteconversionexpert.com

Article Writing Tips For Profit

Writing articles is a very effective way to get one way links to your site
as well as to have people learn more about your website or service. However,
there are ways to do this that can make you more successful versus have your
articles be overlooked and not considered.

Shane Pearce has written the Lazy Man's Guide to Article Writing which
outlines some helpful tips. I was first impressed with his tip that when you
submit your article to an ezine publisher or a webmaster, that you can offer
him to use his own affiliate link in place of your own. For instance, if you
have written an article on motivation and have a link to a clickbank ebook
on motivation and goals, you can offer the publisher that he use his own
affiliate id instead of yours. What this means is that the ezine or website
publisher will be getting a free article already written with a link that
may give him some monetary income. You still would have your own information
in your resource box at the end, so people can click to your website as
well. Think about what the website publisher you write to will get out of
the exchange and find a way to make his or her life easier.

Other tips he gives are to read frequently asked questions to find out what
people want to know about in terms of popular topics. Shane discusses how to
make a viral ebook based on a faq niche that can be passed around. If there
are frequently asked questions on a topic that is a sign that the topic has
an interest as well as the fact there may be an interest in some guide or
tutorial.

Also I like the sample autoresponder examples he uses as well as different
ideas for a signature file at the end of one's article. I think he is very
good at showing how to integrate a couple of affiliate links without being
pushy. He recommends sending people to opt-in to a mailing list as part of
your signature file.

Another section I found useful discusses how to create checklists and use
them both for your website and in articles that lead back to your website.
People like checklists. Shane discusses how to use these. They also help
break through writer's block or paralysis because you can have a list of
steps .

There are ideas given about utilizing both 2-tier affiliate programs and
residual income programs that will help you keep you earning as your
articles circulate around the net. Shane gives some interesting suggestions
on types of sites that work for this.

I also like that Shane gives an example of a flop he did of an unsuccessful
attempt at marketing. He analzyes it and compares it to something someone
else wrote he feels was better expressed. It is a very interesting study
covering various ways to get your articles noticed and published. I publish
articles regularly but learned some valuable tips from this ebook.

About The Author: Dee Cohen is a publisher and writer at
http://www.socialsitesmarketing.com/article-writing.html where you can learn
more about internet marketing.

How to Drive Traffic to Your Website Part 02

Another important aspect of your site that can make a difference in your
site are meta tags. There are various types of meta tags, but the ones that
are most important
are the meta description and meta keywords tags. Let's
take a look at the meta description tag, which will look like this:

Meta Name="Description" Content="here you will put a short keyword rich
description of your site"

On most search engines, the words you enter will be what gets displayed on
the results page as a description of the site. Whether or not you have a
good meta description can make a big difference not only in your search
engine ranking, but whether or not seekers decide to visit your site. Your
meta description should be descriptive, alluring, and to the point.

Now let's take a look at the meta keywords tag. This tag looks like this:

Meta Name="Keywords" Content="your various keywords will go here"

There are some important things you should know before creating your meta
keywords tag. For one, your keywords should never exceed 500 characters.
More than 500 characters can lower your ranking or even get you in hot water
for spam. You also do not want to repeat the same keywords. Keywords
should be separated with commas, and be relevant to the content of your
site.

All About Content

Now let's talk a bit about site content. It's crucial that your site
contains quality content that's not duplicated elsewhere. Search engines
are becoming wise to duplicate content, and sites that contain it do not
receive good rankings. There are several reasons why duplicate content can
occur, and one of them has to do with PLR articles, or Private Label Rights
articles. PLR articles are articles that are normally sold in packages,
sometimes through a subscription service. The problem with these articles
is that so many different webmasters have access to them. If you find
yourself using PLR articles to create your site's content, it's crucial that
you rewrite the articles to make them unique.

You might have seen those sites that offer free articles for use on your
site. This may sound appealing, but it usually does more harm than good,
because of the duplicate content issue. Most of the time, you are not
allowed to change the content of these articles, making it impossible to
avoid having duplicate content. These free article sites do have some
benefits, however, which we'll discuss later.

On the topic of content, it cannot be stressed enough that quality content
is key to good traffic. Search engines look for sites whose content is
unique, of high quality, and added on a regular basis. If you're unable to
add pages of content to your site each day, consider hiring a professional
writer to do it for you. Good content is truly one of the most important
aspects of optimizing your site for search engines and getting the traffic
you desire.
Plus, visitors are more likely to bookmark your site and return to it
regularly if they know that the content is updated often.

You'll want to check your site thoroughly before submitting it to search
engines to ensure that you have no broken links, one of the most detrimental
factors to a site's ranking and popularity. You'll see on some sites that
webmasters have a link where visitors can report broken links if they come
across them.

Another important aspect of SEO is having a sitemap. Your sitemap page
should be linked from every page of your site.
In this sitemap, it should be easy to access the pages of your site. Sites
that contain detailed sitemaps are normally seen as more favorable by search
engines than those that do not.

Now that you've learned a bit about search engine optimization, let's look
at some of the other aspects of bringing traffic to your site.

----------------------------------------------------
Steve Renner
Author, Marketing Expert
Marketing Director
The Affiliate Community
http://www.affiliatecommunity.com

Free Article Content Explained

Creating successful website articles takes a sharp marketing mind. It also
requires top-notch writing skills. So, what happens if you just don't have
everything it takes to make your website a success?

Some webmasters use free article content to entice visitors and turn a
profit. Free article content is available on a number of directories, and is
a valid service for those who lack the time or talents to write their own
articles. It can also be a feasible option for those who have just started
working as an affiliate for several companies, but lack the funding required
to build niche websites to entice visitors.

Free article content is often the only option for those who are running a
website on a minimal budget. It is not, however, a good choice for
effectively building your website or creating revenue. There are a number of
ways that free article content can actually be detrimental to your
business-building efforts.

Search Engine Exclusions
If your website contains the exact duplicated content as other sites, search
engines will tend to skip over it. The more sites that share your free
article content, the less likely it will be that you achieve good search
engine rankings. It is essential that your website receives good search
engine rankings in order to entice visitors to click on your affiliate
links. If you cannot get visitors, you will never make a profit. Your first
priority should be to work on the search engine optimization of your site so
that you will eventually be high enough to ensure a good number of
customers.

Getting Visitors to Commit
Boosting your site high on search engine result pages and acquiring visitors
is hard work, but it is unfortunately only half of the battle. You must be
able to convince those visitors to click on your affiliate links. If your
visitors see the same free article content that they have already seen on a
multitude of sites, they'll be less likely to click on your links. People
want to see unique perspectives, and tend to purchase goods or hire services
from those they view as subject experts. If your content is simply a
duplication of the same material on other sites, you'll be exposed as
someone who falls back on another person's efforts. Your readers may view
you as not knowing what you're talking about, and you'll lose credibility as
being knowledgeable about your product recommendations. This will reduce the
number of website visitors who will be willing to click through and spend
money.

Author Bylines
Most free article content is only given to you if you agree to place the
author's byline under the article. Failure to follow the stipulated rules
can bring penalties. Most author bylines include website links, so this
poses another problem. If the article is especially intriguing, there is the
strong possibility that the reader may click on the author's byline link
rather than your affiliate links. Of course, authors only contribute free
article content as a means to expose their own names and links to the public
eye. In using this type of content, you may be shooting yourself in the foot
and losing possible profitable website visitors.

Most websites are in place for the purpose of making money.
Using free article content is a quick and easy way to pad your site with
material, but it can be detrimental to your financial goals. Novice website
owners often find it the only option; but if you have the funds available
you are much better off hiring a writer to prepare original material.
Another option is to write your own articles, begin making a profit, and
then spend the resources on a professional writer.

Everyone is more comfortable buying a product or hiring a service from
someone they deem to be an expert. Using free article content can be a
feasible option for beginners, but don't give your readers the opportunity
to see you as anything short of professional.

About The Author: William Davis writes for several popular web sites,
especially http://tasup.com and http://fidew.com

Internet Business and E-Commerce Solutions

Business on the internet is often referred to as E-Commerce. Some people do
business completely through e-commerce. Their customers come from the
internet, they do all their communication on the internet, and don't need a
real-world store do do any business.

More commonly, businesses have both a storefront and an internet presence.
This is often referred to as limited e-commerce. Think of stores you shop at
who also maintain a web presence where they can take orders. This is a good
example of limited e-commerce.

Almost any business, from large corporations to individual freelancers,
benefit from a web presence. A website is a sign of your professionalism. It
can be there just for the information value or, ideally, it can be designed
to generate leads. A presence on the web shows that you understand today's
technology and the customer's need for information. A good website shows
customers why they would benefit from working with you.

If you want to be involved in e-commerce, the first start is finding a good
e-commerce webhost. With a good host you will be able to set up a site
easily and find many options for making your site stand out. It should have
auto-responders for your clients, an easy way to make a purchase, and
several options for payment. Even if you are only selling one product you
want to make it as easy as possible for the customer to buy it.

People turn to the web for almost everything today. If you are not on it,
you should be. It's time to start using e-commerce.

E-Commerce Solutions

You know what kind of online business you want to start.
Now you need to know more about choosing an E-Commerce solution for your
business. Here are some things to look for if you want an all-in-one
provider.

Look for a site that offers a wide range of templates.
Though you can usually customize templates, you need to start with a variety
to choose from.

When choosing an E-Commerce solution for your business, look for one that
has a good wizard that walks you through everything. Ease of use is
important so you can get your site up fast and professionally and make later
changes easily.

Look at the possibilities for importing and exporting data.
If you already have a database and choose a vendor that does not allow you
to import it, you will have to retype everything. Export capabilities save
you that same hassle should you ever choose a new vendor.

When choosing an e-commerce solution for your business, look for hosts who
offer a variety of marketing options, payment options for your customers,
and automated shipping options. If the client can't pay the way he wants, he
won't buy. If shipping doesn't happen quickly, he may not be a repeat
client.

Look for a site that allows you to analyze traffic flow. In order for your
business to grow, you need to see what kinds of marketing are working for
it.

This is just a start of what to look for when choosing an e-commerce
solution for your business. You also need to look at such things as cost and
customer service. Choosing the right hosted solution can take some time, but
getting it right the first time is important. Take the time to choose a
provider who will help your business grow.

----------------------------------------------------
Internet Business Ideas and Opportunities http://www.modernrusticltd.com

Helpful Tips to Obtain Best Affiliate Programs

The Business world is not another name for fame and money although you have
high chances of earning both. The business environment is a world full of
trickery. People deceive others to be on top. Some mislead others to gain
more profit.

A good entrepreneur does no things such as the ones mentioned above. Noble
businesspersons play the game just and right. They are the ones who
diligently learn from books, seminars or are communing with associates. They
are the ones who never stop gaining knowledge with the craft they entered.

One way to gain knowledge if you want to be good if not best in the world of
affiliate program is to compile different tips.

1. Be familiar with your craft. No one succeeds in this endeavor if he lacks
sufficient comprehension of the profession he wishes to venture in. You will
not obtain the best affiliate program if you do not know the rules of the
game. How will you know the rules of the game? Simple.
Educate yourself.

2. Befriend the internet. Treat the internet as your best
buddy. As you educate yourself with the theories on marketing and
advertising, learn how to effectively use the internet. If possible, find
out the different "internet secrets" so that you can immediately get things
done. Using the internet in the proper way will save you time, effort
and money. Surf different search engines. List down all
possible search engines you can use. Know which search engines can best help
you.

3. Decide which company you will go for. There are various companies who
wish to have affiliate programs. They need you because they want something
from you - that is to
market their products or services in a convenient way. If
you are good, companies will be the ones who will go after you. As a word of
advice though, you need to carefully select the company you will sign-up
with. Doing so will you give you great benefits such as getting the
necessary skills with the craft while sufficiently earning. You can gauge
how well or bad the company is by going over the terms and conditions that
that they will present to you.
Make sure to respectfully ask if the rules are as good as it is written -
meaning, there are no hidden policies especially concerning commissions.

4. Choose an appropriate program. Educating yourself about affiliate
programs will give you ample of ideas of the specific programs you want to
undertake. It is recommended that if you decide to take affiliate program,
go for something that you think you will be successful in. Choose a company
with a product or service that you will find no difficulty in selling to the
market. By doing so, you will be able to come up with effective marketing
materials.
Learn to play the game in a clean way. By doing so, you will always keep
good business and perhaps later on run other businesses as well. Do not rush
into success by doing dirty business tricks. You may be on top but you will
surely go down…and fast, because you climbed the ladder the fast and dirty
way.

The above-mentioned tips may be of help for you to climb the ladder of
success. You have the option to follow some tips for you to arrive at having
the best affiliate program.

----------------------------------------------------
Steven Gerber is a professional copywriter & marketing consultant. He is a
protégé of Dan Lok, the World's #1 Website Conversion Expert, & in Steven's
totally biased opinion simply THE BEST. You will find the latest internet
marketing techniques & tricks at:
http://www.websiteconversionexpert.com

The Super Affiliate Handbook: A Must Have For Affiliate Marketers

If you need something that can help you with affiliate programs, you will
need the Super Affiliate Handbook by Rosalind Gardner. This is a book that
contains comprehensive information on how you can make a lot of money from
the Internet.

Many people have said that there is no money in promoting affiliate
programs. However, Rosalind Gardner begs to disagree.
She is one of the most respected affiliate marketers in the world. The book
she wrote, The Super Affiliate Handbook, contains comprehensive information
on how you can make profit on promoting affiliate programs.

Affiliate programs are known throughout the Internet as one of the best ways
to make money online. Besides, with affiliate program, you can make money
even if you don't have any products or services to sell. Affiliate programs
work by promoting a product or service of a particular company that your
website is affiliated with. You make money for every referral you make from
your website.

In fact, Rosalind Gardner earns 100% of her income from the Internet by
promoting affiliate programs. With hard work and dedication, she made her
sites earn about $30,000 to $50,000 each month. And, in 2002, she earned
over $400,000 by affiliating with Internet merchants and selling their
products online.

Whoever you are, you can start your own online business by just promoting
only affiliates. You can even say goodbye to your boss and be independent by
just starting your own business through the Internet.

Another benefit of going online and starting your own business is it can
give you all the time you want. You will be able to spend a lot more quality
time for yourself, for your family, and for hanging out with friends.

The Super Affiliate Handbook has helped countless people to start their own
businesses online. Being an affiliate marketer will definitely easier with
this handbook. It will teach you all the how's, when's, and where's about
being an affiliate marketer.

This handbook will show you the step-by-step process on your way to success
by being an affiliate marketer. It is also easy to understand and you can
really learn from it.

Here is a glimpse of what you can expect in the book:

. The importance of making a business plan . How to decide if you have what
it takes to start your own online business . Software recommendations by the
author . How to determine the bad products and the good products to let you
sell effectively.
. How to market the affiliate products

These are just a glimpse of what you can expect in The Super Affiliate
Handbook. There are more things that you can learn from Rosalind Gardner's
The Super Affiliate Handbook and there are more things that you can know
about making money on the Internet by being an affiliate marketer.

The coverage of this book is so great that many people have been successful
because of the information provided by it. You too can now become successful
by just knowing how to do the right things by being an affiliate marketer.
With this book, you will have everything you need to know about being an
affiliate marketer. You can expect that by following everything in this
book, you can be on your way to success and also on your way to freedom.

About The Author: Mario Churchill is a freelance author and has written over
200 articles on various subjects. For more information checkout
http://www.turnkeyaffiliateprogram.com and
http://www.killeraffiliateprogram.com.

Dig for Gold with Your Pen

What would you say if I told you that the piazzas of the Internet are paved
with gold? You'd think I was another snake-oil salesman - right? But, it's
true! And in the most unlikely way.writing articles!!

Except for a few eccentrics, most people think that writing anything is
really hard work. They picture the school essays they hated or the tortured
soul in her attic struggling by the light of a candle! But, that's all
rubbish!

What folks never realize is that the heavy lifting has already been done by
others. You don't need to come up with original content off the top of your
head. You just need to look for what's already out there and 'improve' on
it.
Every topic you can think of has been covered and written on by someone.
But, most of the time, these folk do it for the fun of it, which is headline
news.for you.

Now don't mistake me. You mustn't steal these folk's hard work, (you
wouldn't want to anyway; you don't want to be sued or banned) but no one can
stop you picking up the ideas and creating your own 'take' on the facts.
It's what academics call research!! In a world of browsers and huge
repositories of information, anyone at all can become enough of an expert in
any subject to write a 750 word article on it in minutes.if you know where
to look.

Here's how you do it.

Step One: Generating Ideas.start from the end

Remember, you're in business. The article has to serve a business purpose.
So the first step is to find a product you want to sell. If you don't have a
product already, use standard affiliate thinking and find one with a
reliable supplier and a good dollar commission.

Step Two: Find the content

Say you selected fly rods. Then your article needs to relate directly to fly
fishing. Go directly to the source of the Internet's content. Online
bulletin boards, FAQ pages and Article directories! Try.

http://www.groups.google.com

http://www.goarticles.com

http://www.faq.org

Everything you could ever want to know about nearly every subject on earth
you can find there, and it's free if you're willing to dig for it.

Now, you're writing a 750 word article (this is the ideal length). You need
an introduction, 3 or 4 points and a short conclusion. And, as a beginner,
always try to give your readers information they can instantly use and
implement. So you go through the content until you have filled your needs.

Let's take an example. You're writing about fly fishing.
Well, go to Groups.google.com and see what themes people discuss about fly
fishing - techniques, fishing spots, fishing vacations, tying flies,
equipment, and so on. Pick one and tilt it to relate it to fly rods. E.g.
Cane versus carbon fiber in different fishing conditions, fly lines and
different weight rods, laying a fly in tight conditions needs a particular
type of rod.then conclude with suggestions on where to access suitable
equipment; you'll get the idea.

Now go to Goarticles.com and type in fly fishing and see what articles are
already written and how many people have viewed them so you can tell which
article topics are the most popular. Always write on popular themes!

Then go to FAQ.org and look there for fly fishing Frequently Asked Questions
on the selected theme and find content to flesh out the article.

You'll now have more content than you would have believed possible.

Step Three: Write the Article

Write as you would talk. Imagine the reader is across the table from you and
tell them a story! People love stories.
Personalize it if you can.

Step Four: Create a Snappy Headline

The most important part to your article is your article title; it will make
or break your article. People browse headlines - just like you do! So you
need something that talks to their problem/fear/desires and promises a
solution.

It you're writing about babies and colic, you need something like: "7 Tricks
for Surviving a Baby with Colic!"
Ok, that's not perfect but you get the idea.

Step Five: Edit Your Article - Look Professional

The #1 reason why most articles don't get published (behind not following
posting guidelines) is spelling errors. You
simply must proof read and spell check. Even if you don't
have a spell checker program on your computer, there are plenty of free web
based ones.

http://www.spellcheck.net/

http://www.jspell.com/jspell.html

If you are having trouble with one or two words, why not try

http://www.dictionary.com

Read the article out loud to someone - does it flow? Does it make sense?
There is nothing worse than an article that doesn't make sense, people - and
publishers - find it profoundly irritating.

That's it!

No deep secret. Writing is a step-by-step process - anyone can do it.

----------------------------------------------------
Michael Kay edits the * Insights Letter* and *The Home-Based Business
Review*. These are FREE publications stuffed with ideas, access to resources
and free gifts.
Subscribe now at http://www.HBBReview.com To find out more about making
money by writing articles find go to http://www.HBBReview.com/Articles.html

The Business Benefits of Advergaming

Research has shown that 42% of gamers play online games for one or more
hours per week. 50% of people who play advergames will do so for 25 minutes.
And 90% of people who receive advergame challenges from someone they know
will not only play an advergame, but respond to the one who sent them the
challenge with their score.

So what do these statistics mean when they're applied from a business
perspective?

For starters, more revenue, more brand exposure and a very positive ROI.
Advergames are interactive games that a company can place on its website for
visitors to play. A company's advergame can incorporate corporate colors,
logos, products and advertising messages. A small, interactive, easy to
install form of entertainment, advergames can be placed anywhere on a
website and be offered free or incur a monthly charge to play.

Before they penetrated the internet, advergames were most commonly
distributed on floppy disks. But their goal was the same as their modern
counterparts; to provide promotional incentives with the goal of obtaining a
response from consumers, and to increase consumer awareness.

Advergames are usually commissioned by companies who wish to add more to
their online presence. A game development company will develop the game,
customizing it to meet the requirements of its customer. Advergames come in
nearly all types, from reworked arcade-style classics to memory games.
However, if a company requests it, it's usually possible to create a
one-of-a-kind advergaming experience.

If your business is an eating establishment, an advergame can be created
that looks and feels just like it. Let's say, for example that your
establishment has a games room.
If you chose to have a billiard advergame created, your establishment's
colors and logo could appear on the felt of the billiards table. Similarly,
if you choose a dart advergame, your logo and colors could appear on the
dart flights and/or the dart board.

Advergames can offer continuous play or allow players to take a break
between games. During the break is a perfect opportunity to let players know
about your daily specials or products you plan to introduce in the near
future.

Advergaming offers businesses a unique and powerful way to interact with
visitors on note one, but several levels.
Players receive prolonged exposure to your company's brand or cause, which
can result in future purchases from you.
And if your advergame is especially creative, it's highly likely that
visitors will tell their friends about it. This is also known as word of
mouth or viral advertising.

Many advergames also include the option to track each visitor's gaming
experience. This can provide a company with detailed information which can
then be used to fine tune an advergame for even more exposure and impact.

With so many benefits, advergames can create an exceptional branding
environment for just about any product or service.
And with advergame revenues expected to skyrocket in the next three years,
there's never been a better time to learn more about how they can benefit
your business.

----------------------------------------------------
http://www.flashgamemasters.com has a highly experienced and talented
development team. Whose members have assisted with the creation of some of
the top online gaming portal sites. Affiliated with http://www.bossdev.com .

How to Drive Traffic to Your Website Part 03

Backlinks, defined as links that point to your site on other sites, are one
of the most important aspects to consider when optimizing your site for
traffic. The more backlinks your site has, the higher it will rank with
search engines. And, the more backlinks you have out there, the more people
are bound to see your site.
Thankfully, there are lots of great ways to obtain backlinks.

One way is to utilize forums and message boards, especially those that
relate to your site in some way. You'll find that on these forums and
message boards, you can use a signature. Make sure to read the policies of
the site, and if they allow advertisements in the sig line, then by all
means take advantage of this. By including your link in your sig line, then
making a good number of regular, quality posts (no spam!) you will get more
backlinks pointing to your site.

Another way to get backlinks is through link trading. Link trading is where
you exchange links with another webmaster.
This is especially effective if the sites you are trading with have a high
Page Rank. One way to find websites to trade with is to visit webmaster
forums. Many of these types of forums have a special section devoted to
link trading. You can also search for sites that you feel are of good
quality, then email the webmaster and request a link trade. Some webmasters
will be happy to trade with
you, some won't. In some cases, you can even purchase
links on quality sites.

Then there's the directory route, another great way to get links. There are
hundreds of different web directories out there where you can submit your
site. Some of them cost money to list your site, while some of them are
free. DMOZ is probably the best example of a free quality directory.
Getting your site listed on directories can take time, especially if the
directory is large, so be prepared to wait a few weeks.

Listing on directories serves several purposes. First, it allows people
searching the directory a way to find your site. Second, it builds the
quantity of quality backlinks you have.

Now, let's talk more about those free article directories
-- one of the best ways to get backlinks to your website.
There are probably hundreds of these sites out there, and you can submit to
them all. The key is to write articles that relate to the topic of your
site in some way. Then at the bottom of each article, you're given a space
to include a short bio and the link to your site.

When webmasters come to these free article directories seeking free content,
it's possible they'll use your article. So not only are you getting the
backlink from the free article site, you're getting backlinks from all the
sites that are using your free articles. These backlinks will improve your
Page Rank, and people who read the articles may click your link and end up
at your site.

----------------------------------------------------
Steve Renner
Author, Marketing Expert
Marketing Director
The Affiliate Community
http://www.affiliatecommunity.com

Choosing The Right Business Mentors - The Key To Longterm Business Success

In recent years we've seen all kinds of upheavals within the business world,
online and off. How do we as internet business owners run our business
successfully and profitably during such uncertain times?

How do we navigate through the ups and downs of internet business and
maintain our profitability when everything is changing so fast?

How do we learn what you need in order to be successful in our internet
business, to keep with the rapid changes happening in the business world?

The smartest and quickest way to create business success is to learn from
those that have gone before you! People that have real life experience can
save you thousands of hours of wasted effort.

That sounds easy, but how do you find a good business mentor?
On the internet there are thousands of people offering advice, coaching,
education and training on how to start and run a successful home based
business.

How do you decide who to listen to? Most of all, how do you tell what is
hype and what is real?

By now we have all seen the "get rich quick" mentality offered by high
priced internet business gurus who promise large incomes for little or no
effort. Many times you are not even told what product you are selling!

Some of these offers can be very tempting especially to a newcomer in the
world of internet business. Sadly, most often these high priced and high
hype opportunities obscure the truth of what really is required to
successfully run a home based business online.

So many people have lost money and worse than this, have lost their hope of
ever gaining financial independence, through putting their trust in the
wrong business mentors.

The decisions you make about WHO to learn from can dramatically impact the
future of your business!

How to Choose the Right Business Mentors

I've had some interesting learning experiences in my search for the right
business mentors. By the word "mentor" I mean anyone you choose to learn
from ... teachers, coaches, business team leaders, authors, experts,
colleagues.

I didn't think a lot about this when I first started my online business,
until I discovered some gaps between my own standards of integrity, and that
of some people or companies I was working with.

This dissonance created an inner conflict that prevented me from feeling
good about what I was doing ... and I noticed I wasn't making much money
either!

Ultimately I decided to let go of those business mentors that did not match
my own values. Once I became more conscious of how important integrity and
values are to me, I made this one of my criteria in searching for business
mentors. As my values got onto the "same page" with my business choices, I
found my income growing and my business expanding.

In business, and in life, it is crucial to choose carefully those that you
follow. The future success of your internet business is at stake!

What Is Most Important to You?

As one of my business mentors says ... "Every cell of your body needs to be
on the same page with your business" in order for you to succeed.

Before you go out their seeking the advice of others, take some time to get
to know what YOU want. What is most important to you in your business
success? Write this down. Next, create a list of the most important
qualities and areas of expertise that you want your mentors to have. Be
clear about you want, and then it will be much easier to find it!

I have discovered over time that I need business mentors who have
exceptional integrity, who empower and inspire me, who facilitate the
deepening of my connection with my own sense of truth, who are not afraid to
be direct and truthful. I learned all this mostly by NOT finding it! I was
being disappointed over and over again, until I learned to be clearer in
knowing what I needed and going after it.

Sensing Truth

We are all born with an innate sense of what is true. Have you noticed how
children can sense truth even if your words are not saying it? They respond
to the non-verbal signals and energies of people, sometimes even more than
adults who have learned to shut down their own natural "inner truth meter".

Our culture for the most part does not yet value this innate sense of truth
that we're born with. In an environment like the internet where anyone can
put up a website, it becomes tremendously important to be able to contact
our own sense of inner truth when looking for business mentors.

Thankfully, we can re-activate this "truth center" with the sincere
intention to find and reclaim our own heart's inner wisdom. Reclaiming
access to our own inner sense of truth has so many benefits in all aspects
of our life. In business this can save you many headaches, because you will
learn how to avoid getting deceived by hype and false promises.

Finding Business Mentors You Can Trust

Whether you are hiring someone for coaching, attending their workshop or
class, purchasing an e-book or service, or joining their network marketing
team ... first take some time to learn about the person you want to learn
from. Learn about their background, credentials and experience. For example,
f you want to learn about how to set up a successful soap making business,
you'll want to find someone who has done this who can teach you how to do
this.

The more closely you intend to work with someone, the more carefully you'll
want to check out that person to make sure there is a good fit. If you're
going to be in a long term coaching relationship it is essential that you
communicate with your potential business mentor, to ensure that you work
well.

In addition, I encourage you also to think about the following questions.

* Do you feel inspired, empowered and uplifted from your prospective
mentor's teachings?

* Do you feel more connected with your own inner sense of truth from their
teachings?

* Does your prospective business mentor walk their talk? Do they practice
what they preach? Do they follow their own advice, use the products they
sell, and embody and express the principles they are talking about?

* Does their "energy" match their words? For example if a coach is speaking
about the importance of holding a positive attitude towards others, do you
experience this positive attitude actually coming from them? OR do their
words say one thing, but their energy conveys something else?

In Summary

Before taking the advice of anyone, always ask your intuition and your inner
sense of truth. Develop a list of the qualities and expertise you need in
your business mentor. Use discernment to navigate through the sea of
information on the internet, to find business mentors of integrity and
wisdom that can empower you to success. Trust you instincts, avoid hype, and
set your intention to create business success!

About The Author: Tamara Esgoode is a business coach and writer for
http://www.HomeBizWomen.com. Visit to receive the free Internet Business
Ideas course which offers business mentoring and coaching for women in home
based business.

How You Can Overcome Affiliate Marketing Failure Starting Right Now!

Affiliate marketing is a field that has become more and more attractive to
people. It is a wonderful way to make money equivalent to a full-time job at
home via the internet. It is beneficial to both merchants and marketers
alike. However, there are strategies that should be employed to be
successful.
Unfortunately, too many jump in without knowing just what can cause them to
fail.

The first problem many people run into is advertising. Many marketers
believe that affiliate programs will help them to "get rich quick" and they
fail to put in the effort required to succeed. Advertising, however, is the
most important thing you can do in any business. You cannot rely on luck
alone. Because of the competition in affiliate marketing, it is imperative
that sites be appealing and informative to keep a visitor's attention,
eventually making the sale.

Another reason many people fail at affiliate marketing is a lack of
preparation. Research is involved as the affiliate must be knowledgeable
about the product he is trying to sell. It helps to be interested in the
products you are trying to sell.
This interest will help keep you focused during slower periods.
It will also make it easier for you to spend the time on learning all you
can about the product and keeping updated on changes related to the product
and/or industry. Remember that you will be providing information to
potential customers and must be as knowledgeable as possible.

Along with lack of preparation when it comes to product knowledge, many
people fail to prepare for their website. Your website is the core of your
affiliate marketing business. You need to plan the layout, domain, content,
and ads that will be included. Remember that you never get a second chance
to make a first impression. Visitors may leave your site without even
looking at your products if you do not have an attractive homepage. Also
keep in mind that visitors are looking for information. Provide interesting,
relevant content that includes plenty of keywords to help your search
results.
Finally, keep in mind that you are going to have to prepare to continually
update your site to keep visitors coming back again and again.

Above everything else, do not close yourself to more learning.
There is always something to learn in affiliate marketing.
Whether you are studying up on techniques to increase visitor hits or ways
to increase the attractiveness of your site, or simply increase your product
knowledge, you are making an investment in yourself and your future. Those
who are able to maintain success for the long haul are those who are willing
to put in that time and energy.

Whatever happens, do not give up. It is not easy to find quick success with
little work. This is no "get rich quick" plan.
Keep trying and consider selecting a different program if the one you first
doesn't work for you. There's no shame in that.
Remember, with effort and perseverance, you are on your way to success!

About The Author: Liz Tomey runs an affiliate marketing website that focuses
on educating people about the different ways of making money through
affiliate marketing.You can enjoy reading tips, tricks, and other
information about affiliate marketingmon her site at
http://www.TheAffiliateMarketingBlog.com

7 Unique Ways To Maximize Sales Of Private Label Rights Products

One of the quickest and easiest ways to get started in Internet Marketing is
with your own private label rights products. These are completely made
instant information products that are created by one marketer but sold to
you to use and profit from as your own.

PLR products give you total freedom to change the product or customize it as
you wish. The product creator maintains the copyright to the product but
otherwise you gain the full rights to do almost anything you want with it
and keep 100% of the proceeds for yourself.

You are allowed to make changes to the text such as rewording the document
by expanding some key points or summarizing or even completely removing
ideas. You can translate the text into another language. You can even
transpose the product into another format such as audio. You can even break
the product down into an email series or several articles.

Internet marketers love private label rights (PLR) products because they
give you a tremendous head start on creating your own products that you can
quickly make money from. You don't have to spend weeks or even months
creating products from scratch because PLR hand everything to you on a
silver platter.

Even with all of the freedom that you have with PLR products most internet
marketers are still leaving a lot of money on the table because they miss
the opportunity to maximize their sales.

The first step to getting the most out of the PLR products that you invest
in is deciding that you will do something different that the hundreds of
other marketers with the same products are not doing. You must be unique.
Originality gives customers a good reason to purchase a product from you
versus another marketer.

Here are seven unique ways that you can set yourself apart from your
competition and increase your bottom line selling private label rights
products.

1.Create Unique Packages - You can create unique offers that cannot be found
anywhere else online by adding newly released PLR products to your own
existing material or by creating a different combination of PLR products
that no one else has thought of.

2.Original Article Content - One of the benefits of PLR products is that you
can break them down and rewrite them to come up with your own original
articles. Post them to article directories, forums or blogs. You can even
monetize them with adsense or affiliate links.

3.Custom Audio Products - In our busy world, people really go for products
that they can download to their computer or ipod and listen to while they do
something else or take with them while they're on the go. Use your favorite
audio software to create MP3s and you may have a winner just because of the
convenience. Check out Audio Acrobat for a super easy way to create your own
streaming audios or MP3 files.

4.Expert Interviews with the Author - Just purchased a PLR product on a hot
marketing topic? A good way to really boost your sales is by doing an
interview with the author or product creator. Interviews give you the
opportunity to explore the topic further than may be offered in the product
and answer any questions that customers may have about the product.

5.Customized for Specific Business Industries - One of the best ways to sell
PLR products is to break out of the Internet marketing niche and make your
products relevant and customized to different industries. For instance,
let's say you offer a new PLR product on social networking or another hot
marketing trend. You could make the product a hundred times more valuable by
taking a couple of hours to provide additional information to business or
career industries such as real estate agents, doctors, lawyers, consultants,
etc. Your additional research adds value to the product and saves busy
professionals the time and effort which could easily translate into more
sales or higher price.

6.Expand into an Email Course - This is similar to the article marketing tip
from the perspective of breaking down the products. However, now you want to
preload a series of articles into an autoresponder to create an your own
unique email course.
Be sure to add affiliate links to each lesson for added profits.

7.Your Own Membership site - A lot of marketers use PLR products to create
membership sites. The problem is that they just dump everything into the
membership site trying to sell their offer based on the quantity of items
offered over the quality. A better approach would be to create a site that
focuses on a particular niche and write your own reviews for each item. That
would be a far more attractive and certainly a unique offer.

Use any or all of these ideas to spark your creativity and boost your sales
of private label rights items.

About The Author: Joanne Mason is an Internet Marketing consultant who
specializes in resell rights and niche product creation.
http://www.PLR-Profits.com

Websites For Sale: Why Now Is A Great Time To Buy Established Websites For Sale

Buying an established website can be a great way to get a head start for
your new internet business and save you a lot of time and effort. While
buying an established website is not cheap, it does not have to be expensive
either, and if you do your homework you can quickly earn back your money.
While buying established websites has always been a good idea, now more than
ever it is a great time to buy an established website.

The domain market is a buyer's market in that there is a wide selection of
domains available. You can find very specific domains targeted toward a
niche and funky, original names you can use for almost anything. The
internet is no longer like the Wild West and a good many internet
entrepreneurs have developed and then abandoned sites for a variety of
reasons.

The domain market (or rather the domain aftermarket) is a buyer's market in
that due to that great selection and availability prices are down. You can
easily acquire an established domain for a few hundred dollars and if you
pay a higher price you can feel confident that benefits will increase
accordingly.

Finally, now is a great time to buy an established website because there are
so many forums, services, and tools available to help you not only refine
your search so you know what you are looking for but also help you gauge the
right price range you should expect to pay. In addition, there are services
and tools to help you find the right establishes websites for you to buy,
determine the fair market value for the property, and then help you
negotiate the best price.

If you want to start your new internet enterprise at the head of its class
then you should consider buying an established website rather than
developing a new site from scratch. Now, more than ever, is a great time to
buy established websites for sale.

About The Author: Deanna Mascle has been developing websites since 1999 and
is currently offering a small selection of her personally developed
established websites for sale at
http://renaissancewomanonline.com/domainsforsale.php