Directory Submissions that Matter
By Sharon Housley Links from different directories have different values. A webmaster's time is limited, and most webmasters want to get the biggest bang for their bucks. So where should they start when it comes to directory submissions? Search engines assign value to links from the various directories differently, so how do you spend your time where it matters most? Yahoo Yahoo is still, to some degree, the king of directories. Whether a Yahoo directory link is worth "paying for" is still a debatable question, but there is no doubt that a link from Yahoo is worth the effort. Do not leave a Yahoo link to automated submission software -- take the time to manually submit your links to the Yahoo Directory. Yahoo Directory -http://www.yahoo.com/ DMOZ Amazingly, it appears that DMOZ is still relevant. While some webmasters complain that DMOZ is outdated, it is apparent that a DMOZ link still matters to the larger search engines. DMOZ is a human-edited directory with different editors for each category. As such, patience is critical to obtaining a listing. Editors can become annoyed when sites are submitted multiple times, and before they've had the opportunity to review the quality of the content. Some editors work quicker than others, so be patient and polite, and you may get lucky with a DMOZ listing. DMOZ - http://www.dmoz.org/ Wikipedia A legitimate link that stays in Wikipedia is very desirable. Wikipedia is a human-edited online encyclopedia. Wikipedia links are very difficult to obtain, and even more difficult to retain. But if you build a unique quality resource on a niche subject, you might find yourself linked on a page in Wikipedia. Wikipedia - http://www.wikipedia.com/ Major Download Websites The major software download websites are all capable of driving traffic, and can impact a websites popularity. Make sure to manually submit your software to these three major download websites: Download.com - http://www.download.com/ Tucows.com - http://www.tucows.com/ Softonic.com - http://www.softonic.com/ Popular Directories The more popular the directory, the better the link is considered to be. Link popularity matters, and a link from a webpage with a high page rank (as determined by the Google Toolbar) is desirable. You can assess the general popularity and value of a directory by viewing the page rank of the webpages on a website. Related Niche Directories Websites that are an authority on related subject material are great sources of web traffic. Conduct very specific searches to locate popular niche directories. Where To Find Important Directories There are a number of resources designed to assist webmasters in finding both free and paid directories that will accept submissions. Use the following resources to boost your directory listings: Web Search Engines - http://www.web-search-engines.net/ One-Way Text Links - http://www.onewaytextlink.com/links.php?type= free&pagenum=1 Business Seek Business Directory - http://www.businessseek.biz/page.php?page=web-submit About the Author: Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.
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Where’s The Money? Adsense vs. Affiliate Programs
By Liz Tomey
The main question I get from my clients when coaching them on building content sites is wether they should use Adsense or affiliate programs. It’s a great question, and one that I haven’t seen addressed often. Hopefully this information will help you in making your decision.
My rule of thumb is always go where the money is, but in making the decision to use Adsense or affiliate programs, there are a few things you should look at. Let’s take a look at those things right now, so you know exactly what you should be putting on your site. Google Adsense or affiliate programs.
First, it will depend on your niche. If there is an affiliate program for your niche that converts well and pays well, then you should take the affiliate program route. I’m sure you would rather make dollars than you would cents, so using an affiliate program in this situation would be your best bet. However, if there isn’t an affiliate program, using a pay-per-click service such as Google Adsense will at least allow you to earn a little money from your content site.
This leads to another question though. How do you tell if the affiliate program you are looking at is a good one or not?
The answer to that question will take some research, but will be well worth your time. The first thing to do is to contact the site owner or affiliate manager and ask what the average conversion rate is for the affiliate program. You could also ask if they have any affiliates that would be willing to email you their experiences with the product. Once you have the answer to that question, visit a few affiliate marketing forums and ask if anyone has promoted the program before or if they have any experience with the owner or affiliate manager of the site. Usually if it’s a bad program, many people will tell you about it.
Now, if you don’t find any affiliate programs for your niche, then I would use Google Adsense or any of the other programs like it. Always check though to make sure you can’t make more money from something else. You don’t want to be making pennies on a site you could be making dollars from. Most of the time Google Adsense just pays pennies per click. So if you got 100 clicks on your Adsense ad, and made say $5, but you got 100 clicks on an affiliate link and made $50, wouldn’t it make more send to use the affiliate link on your site?
Using this as a guide will help you, but you still must test and track what works best for your site. You could put Adsense ads on your site for a few weeks, and then replace them with affiliate links for a few weeks. See what does better, and use the one that makes you more money. Just remember to keep testing and tracking!
Liz Tomey runs an affiliate marketing website that focuses on educating people about the different ways of making money through affiliate marketing.You can enjoy reading tips, tricks, and other information about affiliate marketing and finding the best affiliate marketing program on her site at http://www.TheAffiliateMarketingBlog.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liz_Tomey
What Residual Income REALLY Is And How You Can Create It As An Affiliate Marketer
By Liz Tomey
Business opportunities are found all around the Internet and even in the offline world. Everyone is telling you that you can make money this way and that way, but the real truth is that it’s very hard to make a living from having your own home business buying or selling business opportunities.
Don’t let that discourage you from having your own business though. There are several ways to make money with an online business without getting caught up in all the business opportunities.
For several years I bought into several business opportunities, and made some money, but lost a lot more than I made. I was determined to make money by having my own business. I also wanted my business to completely be run from the Internet. The regular brick and mortar stores off the offline store didn’t fit my startup budget, and they overhead of inventory that comes along with a regular offline business way exceeded my budget. The truth is, I didn’t have much of a budget when I first started my online business.
When I started looking for inexpensive ways to make money, I hit on the subject of residual income. I found that I could promote products and services, and be paid from each sale over and over again without having to make any other sales.
For instance, I first started promoting a web hosting company. I was designing web pages at the time so when I would get a web design client I would refer them to the web hosting company I was promoting and I got a percentage each month of the customer’s monthly hosting bill.
At the time, the hosting company I was promoting was charging $30 a month for hosting. So, each month I got 30% ($9) for each person that signed up for hosting with the hosting company I was promoting. Within six months, I had signed up 80 people for hosting services with this company and was making $720 promoting only this one hosting service each month.
$720 a month isn’t going to get you rich, but it paid my car payment and my wife’s car payment each month! Think what you could do with extra money each month by just having one product or service that you promote. It took me only 6 months to start making $720 a month, and in another 6 months, I had signed up 63 more people for hosting services with this hosting company I was promoting. I was making $1,287 a month within a year.
The great thing about residual income programs is that you can make one sale to someone, and can be paid ongoing payments from that one person. Multiply that by selling to others one time, and you will have a nice stream of residual income just like I did by promoting one time.
Isn’t that better than trying to promote a product or service you only get a one-time payment for? Of course it is because you don’t have to do as much work.
Having an online business is all about how you can make the most money on autopilot. You could even keep your regular job and use promoting residual income programs as a part time job. I’ve even known people who have built their own residual income streams up so well that they were able to quit their regular job and live nicely off their residual income streams. They didn’t even have to spend more time on their residual income streams because they already had their residual income streams built.
As you can see, if you really want to make money online, investing time into finding a residual income program to promote is the way to go. Forget all the tricks and tips you’ve heard or read, just do what works!
Liz Tomey runs an affiliate marketing website that focuses on educating people about the different ways of making money through affiliate marketing.You can enjoy reading tips, tricks, and other information about affiliate marketing and finding the best affiliate marketing program on her site at http://www.TheAffiliateMarketingBlog.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liz_Tomey
The Truth About Becoming An Affiliate Marketer
By Liz Tomey
Once you’ve gone through all your options to make money online, and then made the decision to become an affiliate marketer there’s one more thing you must do. That’s to test yourself to see if you have what it takes. You may think it’s going to be super easy, and that the checks will come rolling in. You may think all of this because as an affiliate marketer, there are no bosses to order you around. You may think there are no deadlines to meet and not much work to do. That’s all mainly true, and all you basically need are the right tools, and the right mindset.
Getting the right tools is the easy part, but the right mindset sometimes can be the hard part. There are a few things you must realize before getting into the affiliate marketing business. Once you can say yes to these few things, it’s time to grab your tools and get to work!
First, you must be willing to learn and try new things. Affiliate marketing is an ever changing business, so you have to constantly be educating yourself on different techniques and strategies to keep yourself making money. You can do this by reading affiliate marketing blogs and newsletter from other successful affiliate marketers. You can also continue educating yourself by buying information products that educate you on affiliate marketing. However you do it though, you need to know that affiliate marketing requires an on going education.
Another thing you must realize is the fact that making money with affiliate marketing does take time and effort. You can’t just pick a product, throw it out there, and expect the money to start coming in. It does take time to learn all the ins and outs, and also a lot of effort on your part. If you come into affiliate marketing with the mindset that you’ll be able to work 2-3 hours per week and make a good living, you need to find something else to do because you’ll never be successful with affiliate marketing.
Probably the most important thing you need to remember when deciding to become an affiliate marketer is self determination. As I said above, it does take time and effort to learn, and if you don’t have a “never give up” attitude and the willingness to push yourself even when things aren’t going your way, you will not be successful. You’ve got to push yourself to do better, come up with more ideas, and make more money!
Becoming an affiliate marketer means you’re not working for anyone but yourself. Yes, you are promoting other people’s products and/or services, but you’re still working for yourself. You must have self discipline when it comes to working for yourself. I know many times during the warm months I have a hard time sitting down at my desk to work. I’d much rather be vacationing or outside enjoying the weather, but because I have self discipline I am able to focus and keep working. This may be the hardest part of affiliate marketing, but it’s very important. If you can’t make yourself focus on what you’re supposed to be doing, you’ll never get anything done.
All of things things are just part of what it takes to become a successful affiliate marketer. There are a ton of resources online teaching about affiliate marketing, but they never cover the mindset part of it. All of these things are just as important as the tools you use and the strategies and techniques that you put into place with your business. Without the right mindset, nothing else will fall into place, and you’ll find yourself unsuccessful as an affiliate marketer.
So, before going any further in your affiliate marketing career, make sure to read this article one more time. It could save you a lot of stress and heartache on your journey to being a successful affiliate marketer.
Liz Tomey runs an affiliate marketing website that focuses on educating people about the different ways of making money through affiliate marketing.You can enjoy reading tips, tricks, and other information about affiliate marketing and finding the best affiliate marketing program on her site at http://www.TheAffiliateMarketingBlog.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liz_Tomey
How You Can Overcome Affiliate Marketing Failure Starting Right Now!
By Liz Tomey
Affiliate marketing is a field that has become more and more attractive to people. It is a wonderful way to make money equivalent to a full-time job at home via the internet. It is beneficial to both merchants and marketers alike. However, there are strategies that should be employed to be successful. Unfortunately, too many jump in without knowing just what can cause them to fail.
The first problem many people run into is advertising. Many marketers believe that affiliate programs will help them to “get rich quick” and they fail to put in the effort required to succeed. Advertising, however, is the most important thing you can do in any business. You cannot rely on luck alone. Because of the competition in affiliate marketing, it is imperative that sites be appealing and informative to keep a visitor’s attention, eventually making the sale.
Another reason many people fail at affiliate marketing is a lack of preparation. Research is involved as the affiliate must be knowledgeable about the product he is trying to sell. It helps to be interested in the products you are trying to sell. This interest will help keep you focused during slower periods. It will also make it easier for you to spend the time on learning all you can about the product and keeping updated on changes related to the product and/or industry. Remember that you will be providing information to potential customers and must be as knowledgeable as possible.
Along with lack of preparation when it comes to product knowledge, many people fail to prepare for their website. Your website is the core of your affiliate marketing business. You need to plan the layout, domain, content, and ads that will be included. Remember that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Visitors may leave your site without even looking at your products if you do not have an attractive homepage. Also keep in mind that visitors are looking for information. Provide interesting, relevant content that includes plenty of keywords to help your search results. Finally, keep in mind that you are going to have to prepare to continually update your site to keep visitors coming back again and again.
Above everything else, do not close yourself to more learning. There is always something to learn in affiliate marketing. Whether you are studying up on techniques to increase visitor hits or ways to increase the attractiveness of your site, or simply increase your product knowledge, you are making an investment in yourself and your future. Those who are able to maintain success for the long haul are those who are willing to put in that time and energy.
Whatever happens, do not give up. It is not easy to find quick success with little work. This is no “get rich quick” plan. Keep trying and consider selecting a different program if the one you first doesn’t work for you. There’s no shame in that. Remember, with effort and perseverance, you are on your way to success!
Liz Tomey runs an affiliate marketing website that focuses on educating people about the different ways of making money through affiliate marketing.You can enjoy reading tips, tricks, and other information about affiliate marketing and finding the best http://www.TheAffiliateMarketingBlog.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liz_Tomey
The Secrets To Using Multiple Marketing Strategies For Multiple Streams Of Income!
By Liz Tomey
When most people start looking for a way to make money online, they settle on promoting just one product or service. By doing this, they are committing financial suicide. You should never put all your eggs in one basket when looking for a way to make money online.
Let’s take a fictitious example of what could happen if you do this. We’ll call this example, the “Jane Example”.
Jane is new to the world of online marketing. She’s read a lot of ebook, articles, and other resources about all the ways she can make money online. All Jane wants to do is replace her current income of $2000 a month with an income of $2000 a month that she make totally from the Internet.
She’s decided that she wants to promote a product as an affiliate for an online website selling an ebook on dog training, and she’ll be promoting this ebook via an easy to setup blog.
After Jane gets her blog all setup and begins promoting this product she sees that she is doing well with this product, and as a few months pass by, Jane is making around $2000 a month. For several months Jane is able to consistently make an average of $2000 a month, and can now quit her job because she has successfully replaced the income from her “real job”.
All sounds great for Jane, right? Well now a couple of more months have gone by and Jane is enjoying her online income and not having to work at her old “real job”. While checking her email one day, Jane gets an email from the website selling the dog training ebook telling her that the site will be closing, and that all affiliates need to remove their affiliates links because they will no longer work. Jane just lost her $2000 a month income, and since she quit her “real job”, she has no income at all now.
Jane committed financial suicide by promoting one product. She had only one strategy to make money online, and now it has all been taken away from here.
What is Jane to do?
Jane has learned her lesson and has decided to do things a little big different, so that she can not only get her $2000 a month income back, but not have to worry about it all being taken away from her in the future. Jane’s new plan is to pick 3 different products she can promote from 3 different blogs. While she’s getting her blogs setup, and waiting for the traffic to start coming in, Jane also decides to create some content sites that she can earn money through Google Adsense with.
A few months later, Jane is now making about $5000 a month from her 3 blogs promoting the 3 products and a couple of content sites that she’s making money through Google Adsense with. Jane is making even more money than before by adding more strategies to her plan, and if she loses one of them, she’ll still have money coming in while she replaces the lost one with a new one.
So, what have we learned from the “Jane Example”?
In order to survive online, you have to put multiple marketing strategies into place that will bring you in multiple sources of income. If you only have one stream of income, it’s too easy to lose it and have no income at all coming in.
Maybe you want to build content sites and make money with Google Adsense. There is one marketing strategy.
Maybe you want to promote products as an affiliate marketer. There is another marketing strategy.
Maybe you want to provide a service. There is another marketing strategy.
Maybe you want to sell your own ebooks. There is another marketing strategy.
The list could go on and on, but you get the idea here. The more marketing strategies you have, the more money you will make and the less likely you will be to ever lose your entire income. Don’t become a “Jane Example”. Site down today, and create a plan to secure your online income by implementing multiple marketing strategies.
Liz Tomey is a successful Internet marketer who has produced several amazing products about creating an income online. If you’d like to get started with an internet marketing strategy, just visit http://www.UndergroundMarketingStrategy.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liz_Tomey
10 Web Site Design And Writing No-No’s
By Larry Dotson
1. Don’t load your web site with a lot of high tech clutter. Your visitors may miss your whole sales message.
2. Don’t use unnecessary words or phrases on your site. You only have so much time to get your visitor’s attention and interest; make ever word count.
3. Don’t make the mistake that everyone will totally understand your web site message. Use descriptive words and examples to get your point across.
4. Don’t write your strongest point or benefit only once. You should repeat it at least 3 times because some people may miss it.
5. Don’t push all your words together on your web site. People like to skim; use plenty of headings and sub headings.
6. Don’t use site content your target audience isn’t interested in. If people are coming to your site to find info about fishing don’t include soccer content.
7. Don’t use 50 different content formats all over your web site. Use the same fonts, text sizes, text colors, etc.
8. Don’t use words your web site visitors might not understand. People are not going to stop and look in a dictionary, they will just go to another site.
9. Don’t let selling words and phrases go unnoticed. Highlight important words and phrases with color, bolding, italics, underlining, etc.
10. Don’t forget to use words that create emotion. All people have emotions, people will have more interest when they are emotionally attached.
About The Author
Over 40,000 Free eBooks & Web Books when you visit: http://www.ldpublishing.com As a bonus, Bob Osgoodby publishes the free weekly “Your Business” Newsletter - visit his web site to subscribe and place a FREE Ad! http://adv-marketing.com/business
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Larry_Dotson
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