| What
specific online marketing strategies
and tools should you be using
to get website traffic that generates income?
Or more specifically... What online marketing methods really
work?
- Search Engine Marketing?
- Bulk email?
- Forums and Social Networking?
- Opt-in advertising?
The list of possible solutions goes
on and on. And hey, Ive tried them all and then some. And
what most people don't realize is that lots of strategies are hyped-up
wastes of time and money. On the other side of the coin though,
lots of tricks you've probably never heard of work wonders for getting
website visitors and sales.
Here's
one more secret not many people know about me...
I'm a cheapskate when it comes to promoting
my business. Thanks to the Internet and a lot of trial and error,
I don't have to spend much money, even on typically expensive things
like advertising. For example, here's just one method that works
better than any advertising or promotion I've ever paid for, and
this costs me about a buck a day...
Growing
targeted opt-in lists...
This is definitely the
best proven online marketing method I have used since 1996, and
I've begun to use it more and more lately. To put it in the simplest
terms, I grow targeted opt-in email lists and use tools that
automatically email the people on the list -- personally, and on
a regular basis. Now perhaps you're thinking, "How the
heck would I get people to opt in to receiving email marketing messages?
And the answer to that is easy...
"You
simply give away something of value -- a unique
freebie, in exchange for some contact information..."
That's right, in order
to effectively use opt-in email marketing, you need to offer a unique
and free product or service. Of all the ways to grow a
potential customer list on the Internet this one method is the cheapest
and most effective.
Here's
an example of this strategy in action:
Step
One:
Every single day hundreds
of people download free eBooks from my site. I give them away to
both help my niche market and to grow my opt-in list of potential
customers. As I write this I have some 100,000+ names and email
addresses of potential customers. Every one of them requested
a free eBook and gave me permission to email them, which I do
with my email newsletter and my pre-programmed follow-up autoresponses.
That means when I have a new product to introduce, I have 100,000+
people who want to hear about it; people I've already helped
in the past. When I have a joint-venture to promote with another
marketer, I have a huge list of people who are actually looking
for the type of products and services I offer. Can you see
the power in this strategy?
If you're going to do business online, get used to the idea of giving
away freebies. It's the best way to grow your
business. Just
be sure every freebie you offer is in exchange for your prospects' name and email address.
Then save the
names and email addresses
you get to a "house
list" of email contacts and
treat it like gold! Actually,
I should say, treat those people like gold. Start
an email newsletter or tip sheet on your area of expertise. Share
your knowledge with your list(s). These people are your bread and
butter. Help them succeed and they will reward you with their attention
-- if not now, some day.
Step
Two:
Next, take your freebie
strategy a step further. Implement follow-up autoresponder email
sequences with each freebie you offer. Get these people more
free, valuable information. Cross-sell and up-sell using your autoresponders.
Offer free email marketing courses and tutorials. Fully-automated
sales tools like auto-followup autoresponders are one of the best
ways you'll ever sell to your targeted lists of prospects. Using
tools like that is putting technology to work for your business.
That's it... it's as simple
as I've just stated and that was just ONE example. (I've got dozens
more!)
"What
Other Online Marketing
Strategies Work, Jim?"
I've rigorously tested more than thirty
different strategies for getting website traffic. While I regularly
try new
methods, I stick with about ten proven strategies now. (Don't let
that
scare you off, many of the methods I use are 100% automated
and take a total of a few hours a week.) While I can't possibly touch on
every
method that works, here's one more example that will help you get
going in
the right direction...
Let me ask you
this... how did YOU find this site today?
There is a good
probability that you found my website through a "keyword
search." You were looking for information on a particular subject,
and you
"happened to" end up here. But the reality of it is, it
was no accident you
ended up at my site. Let me explain...
I have lots
of friends in the business of search engine optimization. In
fact, they are the who's who of the search engine experts. They
keep me up
to speed on how to get high volumes of targeted website traffic
from all of
the major search engines.
Here's an example...
Go to
Yahoo.com,
one of the world's busiest search engines and do a
search for this popular search phrase...
website marketing expert.
Chances are, you'll find this website listed on the first page of results, from literally
millions of competing websites.
I have a long
list of top ranked search terms I could share with you, but you get
the point...
Search engine ranking like
that can bring in some serious website traffic
-- free, targeted website traffic. It's just
one more way I get highly targeted traffic to my websites without
spending
a penny. And I've showed many others how to do the very same
thing with
their websites. Remember, it is actually much easier for almost any other
niche, since
the competition is much lower.
So how is it done?
Well, it takes
a combination of things. For starters, you must use your best
keywords in the title of your web pages. You also need to use
your best keywords in the text of your pages, just once or
twice is enough, near the top of the web page.
Getting
good search engine ranking is not about tricking the search engines. It is about
setting up your pages so that the search engines can easily find and
index them. In fact, trying to manipulate the search engines for
better ranking can actually have the opposite affect, getting you
worse rankings, and sometimes even dropped from their database
altogether.
There are
other things you can do to improve your ranking too. For instance,
you need to grow the number of incoming links to your website.
And links from related sites will help much more than
non-related sites. Additionally, what those links say is important.
Text links containing your site's best keywords are much more
effective than banner links, for growing your website traffic as
well as improving your search engine ranking.
Sure, there's
a lot more to it and it is impossible to cover it all in this guide,
but if you follow those guidelines you'll be on your way to better
ranking. And if it all seem too difficult or time consuming, don't
worry.
I can help you with it as I've helped many of my
happy customers. That help is
available at the end of this guide. For now, please read on, you're
almost to the end and there are a few more important things to
cover.
And remember, no
matter what you do with that search engine ranking information,
do not
make the mistake of overlooking the point I am trying to make
here...
If you plan
on using the web to earn money, getting free, targeted traffic
from the web's major search engines is imperative. And remember,
it is just
one of a list of strategies you should be using.
Another
important aspect often overlooked
is testing. Every time I
test a new traffic generating strategy, I save the results for future reference.
This ensures that I'll never run out of marketing avenues. I always
keep
handy, a list of techniques that work best. I use them over and
over and
they work every time.
Heck, just within
the last few months I implemented another new strategy
which bumped the newsletter subscription requests coming through
my site to
more than 2200 a month. And the strategy cost me a grand
total of zero
dollars and an hour to implement. But I can't share that secret
with you
just yet, I'm still perfecting it!
My whole point to this section is...
thanks to the Internet, powerful small-business promotion is now
easier than ever. You just have to know where and how to get it.
And remember, you dont have to shell out big bucks to get
oodles of free and low-cost exposure on the Internet. When it comes
to promoting your business, you need to do it constantly.
But when it comes to spending big bucks on promotion, just say no.
OK, allow me
to give you a brief summary of what we've learned so far before
moving on to the last few pieces of the puzzle.
- Thanks to the Internet, it is now
possible for absolutely anyone to earn an income with unlimited
potential, just like I am doing.
- The most important thing you
can do is get started right now, on your own business.
- You must become comfortable with
the idea of selling.
- You must sell either your own
products or high-demand products with 25% or higher commission.
- You must use only the best, low-cost
Internet marketing strategies and resources if you are to succeed.
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