First, some stats you may not be aware of:
• Most network marketers fail in the first 30 to 60 days.
• If a person earns an income in this period (30-60 days) they remain in the industry over twice as long as those that do not earn a profit in this early phase.
• Those network marketers that remain with their chosen company for five years or more have more than an 80% chance of becoming a top income earner with their chosen business.
• We also know that network marketing is a highly leveraged business. It is one that takes some time to create a long-term, leveraged residual income.
It’s a skill that can be mastered. There are many who have mastered it and used it to become highly successful.
Next, some "good ideas"...
First...
::: Have as much control over your business as possible. That means you’re going to have to know it, inside and out, all phases and factors of it.
Second...
::: It’s going to require a lot of planning as you are learning, in order to keep expenses to a minimum while in your “start-up” phase.
Third...
::: Have profit models for your business that provide, most importantly from the outset, instant and low risk profit. Concern yourself with this task first and long-term residual income later.
Why?
If you profit now you stand a much greater chance of profiting and creating long term leveraged residual profit later.
Fourth...
::: Think in terms of leverage. Proactively search out ways to automate as much of what you do as possible so that you can focus on the most important task of lead generation.
Fifth...
::: Think in terms of simplicity. Wash, Rinse, Repeat. You’ve heard me say it before. Wash, Rinse, Repeat. Find a business model that WORKS, tweak it to your comfort levels, and then do it over and over and over again.
As some of you know, I own and operate QualityArticles.com. I’ve been around the ‘Net for about 12 years, but in no way do I claim to know it all. I certainly haven’t made my first million yet. But then, I didn’t start looking at the business of Internet Marketing until recently. Basically, what I’m doing is learning as I go, since I am single, 50, and work from home due to health reasons—which means, in this country, that I am below the poverty level.
Anyway… I do not claim to have all the answers. I am throwing out to you what I have learned thus far. Anyone who has anything to add is more than welcome!
Let’s get this dialogue started!
The first thing I learned about was Google’s Adsense program. But there are many other techniques as well. Let’s just start there.
1.Adsense
Adsense—you've seen those little ads. Do you want to know how Google became such a mega-monster company so quickly? Genius ideas like Adsense and AdWords, among several others.
I am old enough to have been there when Google was an upstart search engine. I remember—and I watched in fascination as they dominated first their corner of the Internet—search engine technology—and then—virtually the entire Internet itself—wow, what a ride that must have been. Indeed—must be.
Google is famous for those text ads you see on nearly every other web page out there. True, not every page, as many have funding from elsewhere, both online and offline, some of which I’ll talk about in this post. But please understand, the scope of this subject really far exceeds the capacity of an average post. So… you’re gonna get the abridged version.
Those little text ads are making money for the website owner. Every time you click on one of them, the website owner is paid by Google. But, where did Google get the money to pay you? From people who are paying Google to advertise their stuff on your website in a program called AdWords.
That’s the short and dirty. Go to Google, sign into your account (assuming you have one. If not, go sign up for gmail or something) and start exploring the Adsense section. http://adsense.google.com Worry about Adwords later.
2. Monetization Widgets
The latest trend on the web are widgets that let you monetize your website. Some of these services operate under a PPC plan, others leverage affiliate links.
Their main difference is the fact that they work as web widgets, making it easier for the user to plug and play the service on its website.
List of companies that provide monetization widgets:
· WidgetBucks
· ScratchBack
· SmartLinks
www.Amazon.com offers some really neat widgets to their associates that will allow their products to scroll across some portion of your page. You make all the decisions as to where, how big and what products! This isn’t for everyone, but it can be kind of neat. Check out www.gto101.com at the bottom of the page. Until someone takes a closer look, those ads ALMOST look like a photobook scrolling across the page. Some of those could be photos of MY GTO’s. They’re not, but the point is, it catches the attention. And it might even sell something. I had to give up my GTO a looonnngggg time ago.
(That site is active, but I haven’t done any promoting of it yet, so I don’t have statistics.)
There are other places to find contextual and image advertising that you can get paid to display. I’m counting on the other successful ones at this forum to contribute their ideas and suggestions, too! J
3.Okay, so what is Affiliate Marketing?
Have you read ads like this?—
"Who Else Wants To Make At Least $2,000 In Affiliate Commissions Every
Single Month?"
The good news is that it IS possible. The bad news is, it’s going to take a while to build up that kind of income, at least until you understand the process of marketing—selling—products the Internet way.
In the brick-and-mortar world (aka the “real” world), people have products they want to sell. One of the avenues to do so—that is available to all—is the Internet. Mom-and-Pop literally have the entire World at their doorstep now.
There are many ways to advertise and move your product. One way is by hiring associates to get the product out there to as many areas as possible. Markets that Mom-and-Pop might not have been able to reach are definitely reachable when you have sales associates all over the world!
On the Internet, those associates are called Affiliates or Publishers.
As an Affiliate Marketer (a Publisher), you will be selling a product for someone else and you will collect a commission.
That means you come up with the target audience, you pay for whatever marketing method(s) you choose, and you reap the rewards as stipulated by the agreement you have between yourself and the product vendor (Mom-and-Pop).
So, where do you find Mom-and-Pop? Where do you find the companies that are accepting affiliates to sell their products?
CJ (which stand for Commission Junction) and Clickbank are two of the more popular places to find them.
4.This space for rent.
You could always hang out a “This Space For Rent” sign in the areas of your page where you would not object to having a sponsored ad sitting. For instance, as the owner of Quality Articles, I might be inclined to pay you a fee for including either contextual or image ads.
5.Products – relevant or reviews
What’s your website about, anyway? Have you figured out how to teach Fido to use and flush the toilet? Or maybe just the 2-year old running down your hall? Do you write, do you quilt, do you snowboard, do you… whatever your website is about, you can monetize the subject matter in question.
DIY Reviews:
1. Write articles about your interest. Fill your pages with relevant content.
2. Find an equivalent product (a particular brand of snowboards? A diaper company?) and create a review of it. Included in the review is, of course, a link to the product—with your id attached to it… in case they buy something, but they certainly don’t have to.
3. This review can be the main focus of your page OR it can be a sidebar on the relevant page where your article is published.
Sponsored Reviews:
Joining a sponsored review marketplace will give you the opportunity to write sponsored posts on a wide range of topics. Not all bloggers are willing to get paid to write about a specific product or website (because it might compromise the editorial credibility), but the ones who do are making good money out of it.
If your blog has a big audience you could also offer-sponsored reviews directly.
List of sponsored reviews and paid blogging networks:
· PayPerPost
· Sponsored Reviews
· ReviewMe
· BlogVertise
· Smorty
8. RSS Feed Ads
With the quick adoption of the RSS technology by millions of Internet users, website owners are starting to find ways to monetize this new content distribution channel.
Feedburber already has its own publisher network, and you can sign-up to start displaying CPM based advertising on your feed footer. Bidvertiser recently introduced a RSS feed ad option as well, with a PPC scheme.
Finally, some blogs are also opting to sell banners or sponsored messages on their feeds directly
Related links:
· Feedburner
· BidVertiser
· Pheedo
9. Sponsors for Single Columns or Events
If you website has specific columns or events (e.g., a weekly podcast, an interview series, a monthly survey, a special project) you could find companies to sponsor them individually.
This method increases the monetization options for you, the website owner, while giving advertisers the possibility to target a more specific audience and with a reduced commitment.
Mashable illustrates the case well. They have several advertising options on the site, including the possibility to sponsor specific columns and articles, including the “Daily Poll” and the “Web 2.0 Invites.”
Problogger also runs group writing projects occasionally, and before proceeding he publicly announce the project asking for sponsors.
For example, if your website or blog has published an article on marketing, having a direct link at the end of the article that gives readers the opportunity to purchase a marketing product that is closely related to the topic of the article would be contextual marketing.
This method of marketing can be particularly effective if you own a content site. Why? Because according to the statistics I've read, content sites receive 90% of all Internet traffic. That means having a content site provides you with an outstanding opportunity to generate additional revenue from your website
10. Newsletters
You can offer your websites visitors a subscription to your newsletter. You can either charge for the monthly subscription or you can use the free newsletter as a vehicle to upsell, along with your regular content.
11. Pop-ups/Peel-away
Personally, I don’t like pop-in or pop-up ads, but they do get the job done. When I use something besides the Peel-away type ads, it’s usually as some kind of alert message, as opposed to a sign-up request or product offer. I think the Peel-away ads are slick enough to be noticed—especially right now as they are relatively new and therefore, their novelty will garner a certain amount of attention—and yet, unobtrusive.
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Contributor's Note
Kitfanc, aka CJ John, is the owner/operator of QualityArticles.com, where you can post your writings and create superior one-way backlinks, as well.
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