Want Traffic? Get Traffic!

Hi all,

One of the pressing problems facing marketers who are new to trading on the Internet is getting traffic. Without traffic there can be no sales, so here are a few ideas.

When any new business is first launched on the Internet, priority must be given to acquiring customers. Without a solid advertising and marketing strategy that new business will never get off the ground.

Every single website owner operating any kind of business on the Internet faces the same single challenge. How to drive traffic to their websites? The answer is to advertise, but what is the most effective means and more importantly what is the most cost-effective way?

Let’s consider the options. Pay Per Click on any search engine is effective but as Google is the top dog, then it stands to reason that if Google attracts more users then this is where you’ll find more prospects and potential customers.

But, as many online marketers have discovered to their detriment, PPC advertising can be the quickest way to go absolutely broke. Although the big advantage is... almost instant traffic. The same effect, although to a lesser extent can be experienced with Yahoo and MSN.

So what else can you do? Well, there’s email marketing but beware, scamsters and shisters and just about every other rip-off merchant going operate freely in this field. Anyone can build an email list very quickly by using ‘email harvesting’ software, then rent or sell the list to unsuspecting marketers.

Desperate for traffic many marketers will gladly hand over their cash for these lists only to find their websites have been taken down or banned for spamming.

Email marketing can be a very useful marketing tool but it’s highly advisable to always use a reputable list broker. Choose one that guarantees delivery of your email and offers some way of tracking results.

Another method of getting your message out there is article marketing. It runs in close parallel with press releases for getting results but costs nothing but a little time.

Basically, you write an interesting article about a subject similar to the product or service you want to promote. You can’t blatantly advertise, so the article has to be skillfully crafted to include benefits and features of your product or service without actually mentioning it.

You are allowed to include a resource box at the end of your article, which will include your name, a bio and a link back to your website. You then submit your article free, to the main directories such as, Article City or Ezine Articles and wait.

The idea is that people looking for free and relevant content for their websites will download your article in its entirety and feature it on their website. Hence you get free promotion. Press releases do very much the same thing.

One of the most effective methods of advertising online today is to find someone who is promoting a similar product or service to yours and who has a large list of subscribers to their newsletter or ezine.

Simply contact the webmaster or business owner and ask if you can place an ad in their publication. Most will be happy to accommodate and even recommend your product or service to their list, for a fee of course.

They might even offer to promote your products to their list and to other similar lists for a percentage of the profits. This is generally known as a joint venture and works well for both parties.

Next, if you have your own product to sell, you might consider setting up an affiliate program. The idea is to get as many people as possible promoting your products all over the internet. Think of it as building a sales team. Each member of your team will make sales for you for a percentage of the sale.

Finally, I should mention viral marketing. (Ooh! Sounds nasty!)

Don't worry it's not a contagious disease, and it can bring in a very healthy profit.

Think I'll leave this one till next time, as I want to cover it in detail.

So... all for now.

Bill
www.money-harvest.com
www.knight-writer.co.uk

A Warm Welcome to Money Harvest Members

Hi all,

I was going to set up a completely new blog for all you Money Harvest members, but then I thought... why? I'm writing about business and Internet marketing anyway, so why not just carry on as I am and include you guys.

Well, first of all I would like to welcome all new-comers to my blog.

With the world's economies in such a desperate state, I'm going to be looking at how you can avoid becoming a victim of the recession.

I can vividly remember the last recession during the early nineties, when many of my friends lost their businesses and some lost their homes. This time I think it will be a bit different. The banks don't have quite so much power now, and it appears that the governments are caling the shots.

Moving on...

I'm also in the process of setting up a forum on the Money Harvest website, so you can discuss your situation with others, ask for advice, let us know if you have any good ideas and meet other like-minded people. The forum will be your meeting place but NOT your marketplace. No advertising will be allowed.

Well, all that's to come.

And... I'll soon be adding some more freebies to the Free Products section of the website and some more great special offers.

If there is anything about business and internet marketing or copywriting that you would like me to cover in this blog, just let me know.

All for now...
Back soon.

Bill

It's Harvest Time

Hi all,

Okay so it's probably a little late for harvesting if you're working on a farm, but if you're working on the Internet then harvest time can be anytime.

In order to reap a harvest you must first sow some seeds right? So what do you sow on the Internet if you want to harvest a big crop of money?

How about an ebook?

What... a measly little worthless ebook?

Yeah, I know... ebooks are beginning to lose their value and that's only because idiots on ebay are selling like 500 ebooks for $5.

But ebooks still have a place in Internet Marketing. I'm talking about giving ebooks away for free and getting others to pass your ebooks on all over the Internet. I'm talking about viral marketing.

Imagine... You write a short ebook and you put some links to your products and services in the ebook. You then give it away and ask others to use it as a freebie or a bonus on their websites.

That little ebook then becomes a seed, which soon becomes a crop, which you can then harvest.

Here's an example of a simple seed.

www.need-extra-money.com/Internet_Marketing.pdf

And yes... pass it on.

Til next time...

Bill
www.money-harvest.com