A direct response message is not just about response.
It’s comprised of three elements: it must be 1)
captivating (it captures the reader’s attention), 2)
riveting (it pulls her into reading further) and 3)
engaging (it calls her to act). (In fact, these are the
“three simple steps” I talk about in my DVD video.)

How can you incorporate those three vital elements?

If I were to answer that question adequately it would
likely take me an entire book the size of an
encyclopedia! But for now, let me give you a succinct
explanation…

First, write to be scanned.

On the Internet, people are fast-paced, click-happy
(with an attention span the size of a DNA molecule) and
easily bored. The burden of getting visitors to stop
what they’re doing and start reading rests entirely
upon the headline, the headers and any grabbers —
things that help grab people’s attention (e.g., boxes,
borders, graphics, etc).

But once you captured your readers’ attention, the next
step is to keep them (and to keep them reading).

If you know the AIDA formula, you know this is where
you need to generate interest. But I go a step further
by saying that your job is even more important here,
since you must not only generate interest but also
maintain it. And that is a much harder task, especially
online.

It’s also the crux behind a long copy salesletter’s
success.

The debate about long versus short copy can be
wearisome for most copywriters, since they must
constantly explain to their clients the benefits of
using long copy. Even though long copy is statistically
proven to outperform short copy, many clients still
tell me that longer copy will never be read, and that
on the Internet things are short and fast. And then
they ask me to trim my drafts down.

(I often fervently protest when this happens, and
you’ll soon find out why.)

Sure, I completely agree that things are short and fast
online. But there is a difference between grabbing
people’s attention and holding on to it. Keeping
readers riveted, hanging on to each and every word with
an intense desire to know what’s next, is the goal of
any direct response copy.

Remember this:

There’s a difference between long copy and long-winded
copy.

(It sounds the same as reading a story, right? Well, it
is. Like a book that’s called a “page turner,” copy
that keeps people glued to each and every paragraph is
one that is intensely interesting, curiously inviting
and uncomfortably compelling.)

As an aside, why do you think we now include
“stickiness” as a measuring stick in web analytics?
Granted, some of it is entertainment value, like videos
and graphics. But 9 times out of 10, it’s copy. Period.

Here’s a known fact:

Prospects who are qualified and genuinely interested in
the product or service being offered always want more
information about it, not less. If they are not
qualified or interested from the outset, no matter how
long or short the copy is, they will simply never buy.
If they’re not interested or qualified, they won’t read
15 words, much less 1,500 words.

Shorter copy can lead to three potential outcomes:

1) a lower response due to the lack of information;

2) an incessant need for more data, leading to a
barrage of information requests or questions;

3) or a higher number of cancellations, refunds and
returns since the product or service turned out to be
different than what was initially expected.

If long copy leads to poor results, it has nothing to
do with the length. It has everything to do with the
copy.

It’s simply too boring.

It didn’t elevate the reader’s level of interest, and
it failed to keep her reading. Admittedly, it’s a
challenge — and the reason why most online business
owners usually opt for short copy, since writing long
copy that engages, entices and entertains is very
difficult. (Yes, I did say “entertain.” It really is
all about storytelling.)

Good copy, on the other hand, is where the reader hangs
onto every word, and becomes more and more excited the
further she reads it. You see, long copy is like
telling a good story — and copywriters are indeed
storytellers. If your copy tells a compelling story,
people will read it … All of it. When it is written
well, long copy can lead to a much greater level of
response.

Look at it this way:

You visit a bookstore and notice a book that seems to
entice you. For instance, the cover, the title and the
cover copy, such as editorial raves or the author’s
biography, pull you into the book. Even the opening
chapter is delectable. So, you decide to buy the book.

The book seems to be inviting, exciting and
entertaining, and the story compels you to read every
single page, no matter how big the book is.

Take Stephen King, for example. If you’re a Stephen
King fanatic, that means: 1) you’re in his target
market, and 2) you’re interested in everything King
writes. Now, let’s say King publishes a massive, 800-
page tome. Are you not going to read it simply because
“it’s too long?” Of course not.

In fact, the book is so good that you either wish it
was longer or, once done, are prepared to read it over
once more. You just can’t put the book down, even if
time is limited, and you’re busy or preoccupied with
other things.

Here’s a flipside.

Let’s say, as you read it further, the story makes no
more sense. You become confused, perhaps a little
frustrated, and you slowly begin to lose interest. The
plot no longer invites you to keep reading. You drift
away and find it harder to continue. Ultimately, the
storyline fails to keep you excited about the book. So,
you stop, close the book and then shelve it. Now, it
gathers dust in your library.

The excuse? It’s TOO long!

Let me ask you, how many books in your library did you
fail to finish reading (or to start reading, for that
matter)? Perhaps some. Perhaps many. But the same thing
holds true with direct response copy.

Long copy works better than short copy. But it only
works if it’s interesting, captivating and riveting.
Call it “edutainment.” Copy must be educational and
entertaining.

However, in a handful of cases shorter copy is
warranted. (There is such a thing as “overselling” in
copy.) But the only real way to know for sure is to
test, test and test. Claude Hopkins, author of
“Scientific Advertising,” wrote an important axiom:

“Almost any question can be answered cheaply, quickly
and finally, by a test campaign. This is the only way
to answer them, not by arguments around a table. Go to
the court of last resort… The buyers of your product.”

As my mentor, copywriting genius Dan Kennedy, once said
in a recent interview:

“Now, the person who says ‘But I would never read all
that copy’ makes the mistake of thinking they are their
customer … And they are not. We are never our own
customers. (…) There is a thing in copywriting I teach
called ‘message-to-market match’. It is this: when your
message is matched to a target market that has a high
level of interest in it, not only does the level of
responsiveness go up but readership goes up, too…

“… The whole issue of interest goes up.”

The next step is to engage the reader.

Again, you’re like an author telling a good story, and
your copy must read like one. But like all good
stories, the reader must become intimately involved in
the plot. They see themselves in the shoes of the
characters living out the story.

And to do this, you need what I often call “UPWORDS.”
It’s an acronym that means: “Universal picture words or
relatable, descriptive sentences.”

First, using “universal picture words” means to use
words and mental imagery that help to paint vivid
pictures in the mind. Lace your copy with words that
engage as many of the senses as possible, and cause
your prospects to easily visualize already enjoying the
benefits of your offer.

As for “universal,” it means to use words that appeal
to, and can be easily interpreted by, the vast majority
of readers. In other words, use words to “encode” your
message so that, when they are read, can be decoded in
the same way by most of your readers. Your job is to
get the reader not only to read your copy but also to
understand it, internalize it and appreciate it.

Remember this simple yet extremely important rule:

“Different words mean different things to different
people.”

Some words can be interpreted in one way by one reader
and in a different way by another. Your job, therefore,
is to choose words that cater and universally appeal to
the bulk of your readers in order for them to fully
appreciate what you’re conveying.

For example, a challenge among cosmetic surgeons is the
fact that prospective patients will call for an
estimate over the phone when obviously the doctor needs
to see her beforehand. (An initial, in-person
assessment is always required, even by law, to see if
that patient is a surgical candidate. Giving out an
estimate implies that the patient is indeed a good
candidate for the surgery when it may not be the case.)

Here’s the crux of the problem:

Most patients don’t understand the significance of
seeing the doctor in person. Some may feel intimated by
doctors or by surgery, while others may simply be in a
rush and want to “shop around.” While they may
understand the reason, they may not necessarily
appreciate the importance, because cosmetic surgery is
an uncommon process. So, doctors will use analogies,
referring to a more common approach, such as cosmetic
dentistry.

Why? Unlike surgery, most people have had their teeth
done at some point in their lives. They already know
it. They already have a “reference point” in their
minds they can relate to.

So, doctors will say: “Like a dentist, I can not give
you an estimate over the phone without any x-rays of
your teeth let alone the knowledge of how many cavities
you actually have.” People now understand not only the
reason but also the importance of seeing the doctor in
person in order to obtain an accurate estimate.

This applies to every business.

Business owners often become so intimately involved
with their product or business that they tend to forget
to look at them from their prospect’s perspective. For
example, they tend to use a language that only people
in their industry or “on the other side of the fence,”
so to speak, can fully appreciate. But that approach
can backfire… And often does.

Therefore, your job is to use analogies, metaphors and
comparisons, and most importantly stories, all in a
language to which the prospect can relate.

That’s what “relatable, descriptive sentences” mean.
Words are not messages in themselves. They are merely
symbols. Your choice of words can actually alter the
understanding, and particularly the emotional impact,
of your message.

Finally, use action words (i.e., active verbs and not
passive ones) that not only compel your readers but
also “propel” them into action. Tell them what they
must do and take them “by the hand,” in other words.
Don’t stick with mere verbs. Use action words that
paint vivid pictures in the mind, too. And the more
vivid the picture is the more compelling the request
will be.

For example, you’re a financial consultant. Rather than
saying something like, “Poor fiscal management may lead
to financial woes,” say, “Stop mediocre money
management from sucking cash straight out of your
wallet!” (People can visualize the action of “sucking”
better than they can “leading.”) Instead of, “Let me
help you maintain your balance sheet,” say, “Borrow my
eyes to help you keep a steady finger on your financial
pulse.”

— About the Author —
Michel Fortin is a direct
response copywriter, marketing strategy consultant, and
instrumental in some of the most lucrative online
businesses and wildly successful marketing campaigns to
ever hit the web. For more articles like this one,
please visit his blog at http://www.michelfortin.com/
and subscribe to his RSS feed.

Below are only the things that produced visitors to my
site in the last 48 hours. Nothing theoretical
whatsoever.

1) Search Engines

Yesterday was my biggest day yet with this new site
platform and the performance is unlike anything I have
ever experienced before.

I had more search engine traffic from more phrases in
one 48 hour period than ever.

>From very nice short tail keywords like “video
syndication” to fat long tail phrases like “how to get
more friends on myspace.”

And everything in between.

How do I do so well in the engines?

I use the very best publishing system on Planet Earth.
Nuff said.

2) Article Syndication

LOL - right? Wrong. Article syndication is still a very
powerful traffic driver if you do it properly.

Rather than try to be on every article directory on the
web, I go for the most important article directories on
the web.

I also write the best content I can on highly relevant,
topical, hot issues in my niche.

I do not wirte and syndicate articles for links. I
write for traffic. Huge difference most people
completely ignore.

I syndicated this article over the weekend and am
getting traffic from the following article sites:

* GoArticles.com * Ezinearticles.com

I will get traffic from many others, but I am only
showing you today what happened to drive real targeted
traffic in the last 24 hours. (People don’t do this
anywhere else that I know of by the way!)

I syndicate my articles exclusively with
SubmitYourArticle.com.

3) News Readers

Because I have several feeds to choose from, and a wide
range of related topics I publish on, I have feed
subscribers on all kinds of readers.

In the last 24 hours I have gotten traffic from people
using feed readers from:

* Yahoo * Google * Bloglines * Delicious, and *
different versions of desktop readers like
MyWebTop.com.

4) Links

I’ve gotten significant traffic in the last 48 hours
from sites such as:

* BradFallon.com * CreativeBits.org *
WillieCrawford.com * MichelFortin.com

and many many others.

These are link partnerships or just people pointing to
specific posts here and commenting on their blogs.

The better your content, the more people comment and
trackback your site. So good content equals good link
traffic.

5) TrafficSwarm

I get a good amount of traffic each day from
TrafficSwarm, which is no new kid on the block.

I have tested the traffic from this service and opt-in
rates are good, meaning the traffic isn’t junk traffic,
if you were wondering.

They have a free and paid version. Don’t bother with it
on the free level. It is extremely inexpensive traffic
compared to Adwords and Co-registration, and there are
other benefits of membership aside from direct traffic
and subscribers.

6) Video Syndication

I have been doing screen capture blog marketing videos
lately and syndicating them on all the free video
sharing sites available.

Since I started (I have only done 4 so far) I can
attribute top 10 rankings in Google for terms like
“blog marketing videos” and many others to this
marketing tactic alone.

Since video sharing sites are all popular (none of the
sites I syndicate videos to are under PR5, most PR6 or
higher) the links are worth a lot and the traffic is
great each time I submit a video.

Video syndication will be one of the buzz phrases of
2007. Glad I am in the top 10 for that phrase too!

7) Tagging and Pinging

Or simply posting properly and showing up automatically
(and practically instantly) in places like Technorati
which track blogs, is a big daily traffic driver.

Right after I post this I will see traffic from
Technorati and other sites that I ping.

Kind of encourages me to post regularly knowing every
post brings me more traffic and another chance to score
in the engines for more keywords.

If you don’t know how this is all done, the best
information available on the subject is from Sean Wu.

Again, the above tactics all resulted in real, live,
free targeted traffic to the Friday Traffic Report in
the last 48 hours.

Thought you’d like to see what is working based on my
actual log files rather than more theoretical pieces
from people who don’t necessarily use the tactics they
push to drive traffic to their own sites.

—About Jack Humphrey—

Jack Humphrey is the editor of the Friday Traffic
Report.  He teaches blog marketing, social marketing,
and link building strategies.  Stop by and subscribe to
his blog at http://www.jackhumphrey.com

So I’ve been using Hit Tail (A free stats program) for
about 2 weeks now and I have some stats for you.

Hit Tail shows me long tail keyword phrases people are
using to find me. That’s not a huge deal as several
other stats programs do this as well in their own way.

What impresses me about my data coming back from Hit
Tail is that its entire focus is driven by long tail
phrase discovery for your site.

For instance, here are some stats for my site so far:

Top ten keywords are 19.4% of all your search traffic.
Long tail keywords are 80.6% of all your search
traffic. Hit Tail has also collected 143 keyword
phrases so far and makes recommendations of phrases,
based on the entire data set it collects from visits
and where and how they found me, that I should
capitalize on further.

Here is a novel idea for keyword research:

The only way to do proper keyword research for a niche
is to build a site and develop content for it. You can
get initial ideas from regular keyword tools about the
popularity of a topic, but developing a site and
watching real-time phrases being used to hit your site
develops the real keyword list you want to work from.
The keyword list I am developing through my content,
which gets picked up and ranked in the engines the way
it does because I publish on the Authority Site Center
system, is second to none and no one else in the world
has it.

No one can run a program to find out what’s on my list
because it is developed in-house.

Think about that for a moment.

1. You are developing a strong, real-life list of
phrases people actually use to find content in your
market.

2. No one else can ever have the same list if you are
writing original content on various topics in your
niche regularly.

3. While everyone else is using some generic tool like
Overture or Google phrase programs, you are developing
a unique list of phrases you know for a fact people are
really searching on, and that’s people who know exactly
what they want. (People in niches like mine who type in
one or two keywords to find something aren’t serious
enough to convert. They are just playing around and
wasting my bandwidth.)

4. While everyone else works like dogs to optimize for
those generic phrases they are rarely, if ever, going
to rank well for due to fierce competition, you are
simply providing content informed by all the other
searches in your market. Let the amateurs and Fortune
500s duke it out for the more useless phrases in your
market!

Stats tracking has come a long way. With a three-
pronged approach:

1) MyBlogLog.com, 2) HitTail.com, and 3) My log files
(yeah right, like I’m going to link you to THOSE!)

I am able to triangulate and pinpoint data in my market
that relatively few others in my market are able or
willing to find.

It makes my content better for you and it makes it
easier for you to find me because the engines find me
more relevant than millions of other sites and pages on
my search terms more often than not. When you know the
things I know about my visitors, the engines, and the
ways I can improve and create rankings out of thin air,
you will be a powerful publisher to watch out for in
your market for sure!

—About Jack Humphrey—
Jack Humphrey is the editor of the Friday Traffic
Report. He teaches blog marketing, social marketing,
and link building strategies. Stop by and subscribe to
his blog at
http://www.jackhumphrey.com

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

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

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

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

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

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