Failure rates in online marketing businesses
February 29, 2008
It is estimated that at about 80% of those starting out in internet marketing are not successful. The countless ads don’t tell you that : they promise riches in 30 days or less.. with daily earnings showing $ 500.. 1000… or even more.
I believe that winning is a matter of believing you can. Soon after starting an online business, the sensible ones realize that they better dig in for the long haul : it usually takes time to build a business or perhaps more crucially, credibility, so forget about making it in a few months. Ain’t gonna happen.
Always remember that there are thousands out there doing the same job as you and the only way to stand out is through creativity and through unique ideas. Once you are a creator it will set you apart from your competition. You must be known as someone who writes his own articles, ads, press releases and blogs. Even if you use other people’s stuff for research (who dosen’t ?) - you stand out by doing so creatively.
Internet marketing is a relatively new field – the new Wild West, and this causes many people to be enthusiastic and skeptical at the same time. Countless sales pages display pictures of houses, cars and checks (did you think chicks ? Not us) to try to convice themselves and countless others that it is possible ! The reality is that it won’t happen overnight.
In today’s “instant gratification” society, most are not ready to commit the next few years of their lives to build a business, a business that would well take them past their retirement age. For all of those who come to internet marketing with $$$$$ signs in their eyes, the reality soon bites hard ! There is a long hard road ahead, of struggles and sacrifices… only then it brings the best out in us…
But still, success is entirely within the grasp of those who are willing to commit themselves to the pain of growth, hardship and learning… And when the success is finally earned, they enjoy it.
So are you prepared to give in what it takes ?
The difference between search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM)
February 29, 2008
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) refers to the full array of promotional technologies used by internet marketers to increase their online traffic as well as visibility for their web pages. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one only one of the important SEM tool that aims to make a page easier to evaluated, and consequently ranked higher by search engines.
SEM experts employ several methods concurrently :
1. Pay-per-click or PPC Advertising. Paying advertisers submit bids for megatags or keywords. Advertisers pay for listings in search engines (Yahoo, Google, Dogpile, and others). Search engines display ad banners at various frequencies and sites based on the prices they receive. Google ad sense is currently the most successful PPC program in the history of internet marketing, as it specifically picks out the niches that would prove the most effective for an ad - based on an intelligent way of assessing the needs of webpage visitors.
2 Search Engine Optimization. Using SEO, marketers will insert strategic keywords (or metatags) to websites often after carefully studying those used by their competitors, in an effort to increase their own rankings and site traffic. Entire websites can also be structured, and content is often developed to access certain statistically popular keywords. SEO can also employ Image Search capabilities’.
3 Paid Inclusions. For advertisers, it often pays to be a part of marketing or shopping search engines, such as BixRate, Froogle, Shopzilla , MySimon, DealTime, and many others. It helps them to lure shoppers to their own websites for other purchases and customer lists.
In the current high-tech marketplace scenario, entire organizations exist to provide consulting, web developing and SEM solutions. Larger companies often have their own in-house staff to handle and implement IM strategies. The objective is to create Search-Engine-Friendly websites that hope to attract and appeal to their target niche markets.
Five Top Reasons Why Blogging is the New Kid on the Internet Marketing Block
February 29, 2008
Blogging really took off in late 90s. It used to be a forum for voicing one’s opinion on a given topic, but has evolved into masses of opinions on just about anything under the sun. As it continues to evolve, online advertising has entered the blog arena. Here are 5 top reasons why you should consider blogging as a serious IM tool.
1.Blogging is simple. If you have a PC and an Internet connection then its easy for the average Jane to start within minutes, and advertise products, ideas or websites !
2. Blogging has a more ‘authentic’ feel to it. In many blogs, real people share their real-life experiences, untouched by paid advertising. Reading blogs about first-hand product use is increasingly being used by web shoppers as an authentic source of information before pressing the ‘pay here now‘ button.
3. Blogging is mostly free. Because blogging is not yet a mainstream online advertising media, most sites still offer it for free. Anything free is definitely a bonus to start up businesses. Ofcourse, paid blog pages generate more income for your growing business.
4. Blogging builds your credibility. As you get more and more into writing about your experience on a particular product or theme, your readers come to depend on your posts for advise. As you become an ‘expert’ more readers visit your site and more bloggers link to your posts. As companies and professionals notice your growing readership, they may soon contact you for advertising on your blog, or offer you an affiliate ship, which is excellent, either way.
5. Blogging gradually ‘builds’ your market. Unless your face is well known on magazine stands, I’ll bet that only your Mom reads your posts. Mom has a lot of friends too, so may be you’ll end up with a hundred after all ! But give poor Mom a break and consider the following :
-Use your e-mail. Invite people to explore your site by posting a short e-mail message to contacts or forums as teasers to your blog. If your e-mail is on a totally different subject, use your e-mail signature to give a link to the site.
-Use subscription. An easy way to get your readers’ e-mail is to give them an opportunity to subscribe to your blog. Keep some exclusive goodies for your subscribers to entice them give away their e-mail addresses. Just be responsible in using their e-mail address too : the last thing you want is being accused of spamming !
-Use RSS. RSS is the fastest growing Internet technology today. RSS feeds to your blog is definitely another means of generating awareness for your readers. Having a variety of feeds can add interest to your blog site, apart from constantly advertise ‘you’.
Blog your way to success !
Using Search Engines to Boost Your Marketing
February 29, 2008
You’ll always have bigger and better competitors, but that doesn’t mean you can’t succeed. You can always offer something ’slightly’ different or a ‘radical new alternative’ if you insist. However, to reach your message to the maximum number of people out there, to effectively compete with the opposition, you first need your website to be ranked higher on the search engines. In fact being on the first three slots will guarantee you a steady traffic to your Internet business.
Ever since the creation of the Google in 1998, getting ranked high on the Google search engine has become a major concern for web site owners. Recent statistics show that 80 percent of Internet users use Google to search something whether it is information or a product. However, no one can say for sure the exact criteria that Google uses to determine its rankings. It is rumored that over 100 criteria are used to determine the algorithm which ranks your site’s credibility with its search engines. Of course, some of these criteria are secret, but there are some known methods to achieve higher rankings.
The first thing that you have to watch out for is definitely your website content. Quality content in an easy-to-use site is perhaps one of the most important things that you can do. Of course, when we say content, we mean the words and the information inside and not the graphics in your web site. Although flashy graphics will impress your visitors, they won’t help you in getting high ranks with search engines in any way. Search engines use programs called spiders to research the content on your website. These spider programs in general won’t be able to decipher the information in your flashy graphics and you may even end up on the lower scale of the results.
The other thing that you have to watch out for is that you need hits from several keywords. Having a website with only the prices and the names of the products will not get you very far with the search engines. Also make sure to update your content frequently and with quality stuff as this will help you get a better ranking on the search engines.
A common mistake that web owners make is spelling and grammar mistakes on their website. Although this will put off potential customers as a result of appearing unprofessional, it has also been found that more than 3 spelling mistakes can cause you to lose your ranking with the search engines. Finally, you should also try and get as many links back to your website as possible from others.
I’m sure that you realize by now that keeping your website high on the Search engines’ top lists will be an ongoing endeavor.
