$12 Market Research That Works

Have you ever wished there was a cheap form of market research that would let you try new things? For example, would you like to test different templates on 2000 – 5000 website visitors? Try different affiliate programs on 10 000 visitors? In a relatively short time?

Well, there is a way to do this. I buy traffic. I can buy 10 000 untargeted hits for $12 or targeted for $19. I can try different layouts, different ads, different colors, even different article topics.


I take a look at my stats to compare:

-Click through rates
-Repeat visitors
-Number of page views
-Number of people who left the site
-And, how many people are really interested in a specific topic

Of course, there are intangibles. For example, the time of year, the quality of visitor, etc. However, this form of internet marketing is perfect for bloggers. As ‘hit and miss’ as it is, it gives great information in a relatively short time, as well as increase a blog’s page rank.

It also lets bloggers figure out which blog topics are hot, and which are not. They can test the success of certain topics. This is vital. I post to my blogs once every 4 or 5 days. When I find a ‘hot topic’ I will leave the blog with that topic as the top post. This way, the site always has a large quantity of hot topic posts- as well as a ‘hook’ for new readers.

I’ve even used this method of marketing to test affiliate programs, by sending the traffic to a specific article. I’ve used this method to test books, courses, and affiliate programs. I haven’t used it yet to test embedded Google ads, but that is on my to-do list.




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Why Buy Web Traffic?

If you want to make money, you need to buy traffic. I operated websites that earned millions of hits a year, and earned less than $500 from those sites. That was because my traffic was not ‘pre sold.’

I didn’t start making money until I started buying traffic. However, you cannot buy any traffic, and it won’t work for any product, blog, or website. You need to find the right company to work with the right campaign.

That said, don’t expect your first traffic selling company to be your best. The company I use sells me 10 000 hits for $12.00. This earns about $50 - $70 per campaign. I do this on 10 blogs, earning $28 - $58 each, $280 - $580 a month.

This is one of the best passive income streams I have created. I can put 3 different campaigns on a single blog, at the same time.

I run Adsense ads on some blogs, and others have a combination of Adbrite.com and commissionjunction.com ads. The traffic I buy is ‘international untargeted’ but it works because people click to my site to read information, then click on to a ‘service provider.’

I also have a good level of users subscribing to my feed. This is increasing the PR rate of my site. I’ve also found that the extra traffic is increasing my RealRate and my Google Page Rank.
The objective is to start small and build slow. This isn’t a scam, or a secret. All the big SEO marketers buy traffic.

The problem is, there is no ‘one solution for all.’ My company is helping me earn lots of money from my health blogs, but it performs poorly on my business sites. This doesn’t mean that the program doesn’t work on small business websites. It may mean that my set up is wrong for the target audience, it may mean that my articles are not relevant. The fault is not always the service providers.


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Why Small Business Owners Need a Networking Group

The number one benefit of a networking website, or group, is that it gathers resources that group of business owners knows will work, and brings together people who can make the programs work.

Surfing for Business Opportunities

Most work at home business owners start by surfing the net, looking for business opportunities. They usually become victim of a few scams, or a program that will not work for them, before finding a networking group.

For example, many new work at home business owners are quickly attracted by the affiliate programs on the web. They expect to build a passive stream of income. While the possibility is there, the probability of a new small business owner making a substantial amount of money is very low. Content Management Systems do well in the affiliate field. They have thousands of pages, with hundreds of thousands of hits. Their sole purpose is to attract people who are looking for the products they promote.

Most new business owners fall into two or three scams before they find a network where the webmaster has worked to bring together resources and tools to help their members succeed. Once a small business owner finds a good network and resource website, they have a place that will help them succeed.

Save Money

Small business owners who belong to a networking group will save money in the long-term. They avoid wasting money on programs that do not work – like Pay Per Click, and focus on programs that do work, like niche marketing.

Each new member benefits from the collective intelligence of the group, and by the intelligence of the web site owner. We mentioned above that affiliate marketing does not work, but a web site that is designed to help business owners succeed can only succeed if the information and products are good.

Trust

This can reassure new business owners. Any website that has built up a vast list of inbound links, is willing to give away free information, and prepares a plan for success, can be trusted based on the time needed to build up a vast resource, and the cost of building a complete ‘small business start-up’ kit.

This cannot be started over night, it takes time. Most ‘get rich quick’ schemes are here one day, and gone within three or four months. They never have time to build up a list of inbound links. Other websites do not link to them. In the end, the only websites that succeed are the ones who benefit small business owners and have them link to the site, refer other potential business owners, write reviews, and come back to buy more of the proven products.

Learning

The small business world is constantly evolving. The Internet world evolves faster than the brick and mortar world. What works today, may not work tomorrow.

It can take new business owners months to learn the current trends and find ways to increase their profits. However, belonging to a small business organization will save them time by brining all the learning resources needed into one place. A network can also save time by weeding out the weak performing products and techniques, warning against the scams, and explaining how to use the new resources properly.

Page Rank & Promotion

The internet works on page rank. The higher the Google Page Rank, the higher the web site will rank in Google searches. A small business owner that networks with other similar businesses can exchange links. Each member in the network is in business, so when they link, they are joining business-to-business websites. A few dozen B2B web links will increase page rank higher than a thousand Business-to-communities, or business-to-online store, or Business-to-private website links.

So, next time you think that those web sites with all the products are just ‘out for your money’ and have very little to offer – think again. They can save time, money, and help you find places and methods to promote your business, reducing the time between start up and wealth building.


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Why Your Articles are Not Generating Links

One of the most powerful, profitable, and frustrating methods of promoting a business is by writing articles for free content sites. Yes, this is a great way to gain exposure for your website, product, or business. No, it is not easy.

A simple number, like 100 articles, can turn into millions of hits within a few months – if the article’s topic is catchy and hooks the reader.

However, most small businesses and work at home entrepreneurs consistently rehash the same old titles, and reword the same old articles. Their content is lost beneath piles of other content, and remains dead on the web.

Like most small business owners, this is where you probably say ‘it doesn’t work’, and then go off on some other tangent. Unfortunately, you are saying goodbye to hundreds, even thousands of sales.

The publishing industry has a voracious appetite. There is not enough articles to feed it, even though millions of new articles are posted for publication every month. Like book publishing, Internet publishing is full of writers who do not give the publishers what they need.

Publishers do not need another article on the ‘10 Top Secrets to an Effective Internet Marketing Campaign.’ They do need articles that tell people How to implement an effective marketing campaign.

Titles

The first step to success is a catchy title. The days of the ‘flash in the pan’ titles that promised riches and rewards have gone the way of the dinosaur. Now, people want titles that solve problems. This article could have been called ‘Turn Articles into Free Advertising.’ Unfortunately, most people already know the basics, so why read the article?

Instead, I wrote a title that takes the Internet marketer to the second level.

SEO Content

SEO is dead. In 2004, the users took over the internet and gave birth to WEB2.0. Now, search engines are starting to rank web pages by the number of readers who read the pages, not how well optimized the page is.

You’ll notice that most professional SEO marketing campaigns do not direct you to a website’s homepage, but an article. That is because people will spend more time reading an article than they will spend on the home page. This increase their chances of listing that site on www.digg.com, or Del.ici.ous. These are the ‘new’ search engines.

Web Publishers

Web publishers are now looking for content that can be ‘skimmed’ easily, and tells people How to do something, as apposed to telling them What needs to be done. Think of this as writing a step-by-step set of instructions that will teach a skill, solve a problem, or help someone avoid a problem.

Uploading Articles

Most business owners have two or three favorite places to upload their articles. This is very limited. Articles should be uploaded to dozens, even hundreds, of free article sites. Each publisher has their own favorite sites. They rarely go to another site to find content.

One of the reasons why publishers use these services is to save time. The businesses that receive the most exposure are those who spread their articles over the most sites.

Marketing is all about exposure. Marketing tools work well when they are used properly. They should also be given a chance.


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The Power of a FREE OFFER

Have you ever stopped to read a sales letter, or watch a commercial, because it promised something free? Even though the marketing world is full of useless, and redundant, free offers, people still hope. That aspect of ‘the human condition’ can be used to build wealth on the internet.

The internet is full of downloads and ebooks, or buy one get one offers. These can generate sales, but they have no intrinsic value for the person making the purchase. The best ‘free offers’ are things that people can use the moment they receive them to build wealth, have fun, or improve their skills.

People are driven by five motivational needs: security, belonging/love , self esteem, building wealth, and comfort. The trick to success is to find a free offer that meets one of these needs.

The second secret to success is to make the free offer valuable. If someone is buying a book on ‘wealth building’ for $20 and they receive a free one year membership to the author’s forum, and free monthly chats, then the author has not spent any money on the free offer, but they’ve met the motivational needs of ‘belonging’ and ‘wealth building’. Top that off with the feeling that the free offer will be worth more than the book, and you have a win-win situation for both the buyer and the seller.

The next aspect of a great free offer is the person can get before buying. Of course, a better offer can be awarded after subscription or purchase. A free offer that only costs a user their email address will hook most visitors. It can also be used to test what products the buyers really want and need.

However, an email course is not a good sign up fee. The free offer needs to be instant. It should also be pro-active. An ebook is not as attractive as a free ebook and access to a ‘subscriber’s only’ forum, or a free web or teleconference.

A free offer can have two purposes. First, it can increase the chances of making a sale. Second, it can be a method of collecting a mailing list. In fact, the first offer is rarely designed to generate sales. The first offer should educate the prospective buyer on why they need the product.

Free offers are perfect for selling without selling. A free offer can let the advertiser eliminate the ‘intrusive’ value of advertising. People want to buy. They want to spend money. Most advertising campaigns fail because they ‘intrude’ into the buyer’s world and make them feel like they are being pushed. Remember the list of motives? If your add attacks a person’s feeling of security then you reduce the chances of turning a query into a sale.

The most costly mistake most small businesses make is not including their free offer in their advertising. Every piece of marketing material should include the free offer.
Another aspect of a great free offer is that it is tangible. It is something that the potential buyer can use. Instead of an ebook, offer a digital workbook. Once they buyer prints out the workbook so they can fill it in, then they are holding something tangible.

The last aspect of a great free offer is that it doesn’t focus on how great the product, service, or business is, but how great the visitor is, and how much their life will improve. The #1 mistake made in any ad is to focus on the product, service, or business. Instead, all advertising and free offers need to focus on making life easier for the potential buyer- even if they never buy the product.

Suggestion: One great way to add value to a product is to make it something that improves the value of the product or service. A book on wealth building can be improved if a free offer of a tele-course, or workbook that will improve the effectiveness of the product.

The Lazy Way to Build a Mailing List

If you’re operating a work at home business or a small business then your already aware of how important the Internet is to your success. However, the most valuable commodity in most small businesses is time.

No small business owner has the time to spend unlimited hours each week promoting, writing, and managing email publications so they can build their opt-in list. Well, you don’t need to. Here is a relatively unheard of strategy that will nurture a list of prospective buyers, build their trust, and have them hanging on your expertise. All without facing the daunting task of writing a newsletter every week instead of generating income.

It’s simple, you use an autoresponder to store a pre-written newsletter. Where does the newsletter come from? You can hire a freelance writer for less than $10 - $20 an issue. No one will write your newsletter for this much, but they will add free content to your site. The trick is to keep the focus of the newsletter on you.

The business owner can have a freelancer to make 5 to 10 newsletters at once, and the autoresponders will deliver them at the proper time. Even if the business owner continues to write their own newsletters, it is much quicker to write 5 – 10 newsletters in one day, than it is to write one a week.

Another cool tool is the RSS feed and blog. This lets you send out a notification that the newsletter is ready. Your users click into your blog and read all the newsletters, past and present. Most of today’s blogs will also publish a blog post at a later date. The RSS feed lets you post your content on web pages, without needing to create a dozen static pages. It also lets other people past your newsletter on their website.

This brings up the next issue. Every newsletter should include links back to different pages of your website – never to the homepage. The newsletter is a pre-sell tool. It should bring people to the website, but not to the buy now page. Instead, the newsletter should lead users to a ‘landing page.’ This landing page should focus on the visitor’s needs, not the product – but it should direct the visitor to the ‘buy now’ page.

The blog platform is an easier way to build a newsletter because you do not need to worry about formatting email lists, or worrying about having them bumped by spam bots, because they have too much code, or too many attachments.

Another added feature is the ‘reply’ box. This is a fantastic way to build testimonials for your business without looking like you are patting yourself on the back, or without making your satisfied buyers sound patronizing, or worse, paid for their testimonial!

Another often overlooked time saver is to use all your free content/promotion articles in your newsletter first, a few weeks before you list them on the free content sites. This kills 2 birds with one stone.

Remember, despite what the companies that have mailing list services to sell, there are no golden rules to mailing lists and newsletters. Do what works best for your business and let the gurus argue about the rules of opt-in-list management among themselves.

3 Elements of a Successful Advertising Campaign

Most business owners do not explore new marketing strategies until they experience a sharp decline in their revenue. Avertising campaigns are not evergreen. They evolve and grow, improve and degenerate. Most work at home, or small business owners shell out a substantial amount of money for a good ad campaign and then let it run dry.

The first strategy for success is found in the way you view the advertising campaign’s purpose. A good advertising campaign needs to do three things. First, it needs to collect data on the market. Who is buying. What is hot, and what is not.

Second, it needs to collect vital information about the people who make a purchase from your website. This can be compiled into a profile that helps you determine how to best reach your target market. It is a market research tool that helps determine what types of advertising works, at what times of the year.

Third, it should ‘brand’ your name and logo. A successful advertising campaign will imprint the company name and logo onto people’s subconscious. This increase their ‘decision to buy’ response when they visit the website

For example, online shopping increases dramatically just before Christmas, but only if the payment gateway is fast and easy to use. However, if the user must leave the website to use the payment gateway, like paypal.com uses, then the statistics do not change. However, the payment gateway does not effect sales in the summer.

You’ll notice that no aspect of an advertising campaign is to sell the product – that is your website’s job. A successful marketing campaign manager never measure’s an advertising campaign’s success based on sales.

Large corporations will tell you that a successful advertising campaign may run for months before the results appear on the income statement.

The advertising campaign should be reviewed often, and compared to new methods, in the hunt for new ‘hot markets.’ However, hot markets burn out very quickly. The whirlwind of change that continuously sweeps through the marketplace is a powerful balancer. It gives small businesses an edge over the elephants that move slow and react to change in months, not weeks.

This is true, but there needs to be balance. Always keep 80% of the marketing budget in the tried and true marketing methods – even if they do not offer the big rewards. The other 20% of the marketing budget is free for exploration of new advertising mediums. Don’t discount anything. Look at the fortunes made when youtube.com and myspace.com skyrocketed to fame. For a few months, advertisers were raking in millions.

It is also important to keep a finger on the pulse of the population. There is a time to brand your company, and a time to break away from the pack and create a new image for yourself like Calvin Cline did with their underwear commercials.

The important thing to remember is to focus. Calvin Cline didn’t try to sell underwear to all age groups, they focused on a narrow niche. Work at home and small business owners need to learn this lesson – niche marketing is the secret to making millions.

The potential is expansive. Clever competition and new technology should be seen as marketing tools, not threats. Staying on the cutting edge is all about innovation and creativity. Money is no longer the #1 element to success. Many small businesses are becoming international on small budgets.






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