It has been some time since I have posted on this blog. I have been ramped up in several projects, which have consumed all of my time. The recent holiday and a family wedding completely shut me down for a couple weeks.

In his post, I want to share with you one of the several projects is that I have been working on. I routinely write articles for private membership site that focuses upon the subject of Internet marketing. I decided to undertake an experimental project involving article directory sites, and report upon the experience for the benefit of the membership.

Article marketing is an inexpensive means of building back links to your website, teen exposure to a Lord audience, and generally driving Internet traffic to a destination of your choice. Article marketers are hungry for a wide array of places where they can post their articles. One way to take advantage of this phenomenon, is to own and operate an article directory site.

The first three steps in the process are to select an appropriate and domain name for your new directory site, select an article directory script that will serve as your needs and those of your authors and publishers, and find hosting to accommodate the website. I accomplished the first task by simply falling back on a domain name that I had previously registered in the past four a separate project. The project did not materialize, but I had kept the domain name and decided now to put it to good use.

The article directory script that I decided upon is a freely distributed script called Article Dashboard, which has several drawbacks what has a large installed user base that is well supported in an online forum. The script is not open source, but you can download and freely use the software without need of registering it. Because it is not an open source project, the code is not freely distributed. The kernel and all PHP files needed to operate the directory site are encrypted and cannot be modified. All modifications must be made through text based template files, which are numerous and somewhat cumbersome.

In later posts, I will provide you with a list of those template files along with a short description of their use. Using a standard text editor, you can modify the files for your purpose. For example, you’ll be able to change how the site is displayed and insert advertising and other monetization techniques of your choice. Some basic modifications will also be covered in later posts.

At this point in time, my article directory site is up and running. Further modifications to the template files will be made as the site matures. In the interim, the focus is upon marketing the site to authors who have need of additional article directory sizes to which they may post their materials. As those materials increase in number on the site, they will in turn be marketed to the e-zine publishers for possible publication and/or syndication.

So, check back here and I will hopefully have the next installment up over the weekend.

Here is to your success!

Chris

November 29th, 2007 by Chris | No Comments »

The last few weeks I have been on the road, attending a seminar and meeting with people from across the country. This is one of the more pleasurable aspects of my growing online business. I have made relationships with others who share my passions and interests and are interested in working with me on projects.

When I started this was definitely not the case, however.

So, how to you build some critical mass to get your Internet or home-based-business off the ground and thriving?

The BIG SECRET is that there really are no big secrets. I realize that this may be a bit of a surprise given the number of Internet marketing products out there promising to share the secret to Internet riches…

It’s hype, of course. You see, marketers of Internet marketing products market, too! It reminds me of some advice about playing poker. The advice is that if you sit down at a poker table and cannot figure out who the sucker is, it’s you. The same is true in the Internet marketing field.

For marketing on the Internet you do need to learn a number of skills. What skills depends upon how and what you intend to market. The trick is to outline your business plan and then set about executing on it.

Without question, you will want to buy some Internet marketing related products. These are products that provide you with needed information and that help you develop your skills. You will also want to invest in products that automate certain aspects of your business and that reduce your time on certain tasks.

You can pass on many of the e-books that promise to reveal how to make a million bucks in your sleep. How will you know which ones to buy and which ones to avoid?

This is the great thing about a business plan…

Simply ignore the hype and stick to your plan. Understand that you will have to modify your plan as time goes on, as things in your business change, and as you learn what works and what does not work. However, your business plan will tell you what you need to do.

Any product that does not directly assist in executing that plan is a distraction and will only serve to delay your success and waste your money. Focus on your business plan and you will be much less susceptible to all of the marketing hype!

To your success!

-Chris

October 14th, 2007 by Chris | No Comments »

It has been a little while since my last post and I do apologize. My goal is to post here at least once each week, but sometimes the pace picks up and my attention is needed elsewhere.

My attention the last couple weeks was pulled away by an initial product release that I was invited to participate in as an affiliate marketer. I have established myself as a “Super Affiliate” in certain circles, which brings the benefits of being the first to know about new products, services, and to be invited to help introduce those new products or services when they first launch.

I realize that there are more e-books and courses out there on affiliate marketing than a person can realistically hope to read. I’ve read a lot of them, however.

Unfortunately, most of what I have read on the subject is not very helpful beyond laying the basics out for you. Many of the e-books I am now seeing released on the subject are pure crap, and you should feel absolutely no need to purchase these items. You’re money and your time will be much better spent conversing with other affiliates, learning from them how they operate.

The best piece of advice that I can give you is to 1.) be absolutely genuine, and 2.) never ask your audience to buy a product that you yourself do not use or otherwise find value in. The upshot of these two rules is that we all ‘live or die’ by our reputation. What people think of us is our most valuable resource.

That’s right. It’s not your mailing list. Your reputation carries the most value!

Most would-be affiliate marketers fail because they read one or more of the e-books and try to make the big money following the advice set forth in those pages. The problem is that they are just one more clamoring voice in a sea of voices, all indistinguishable from the rest.

The successful marketers are able to sell in the same environment because they have an established reputation and rapport with their audience. The bottom line is that they are trusted by enough people that when they deliver their message it is heard.

My personal story is no different. When I started I was a “nobody” on the Internet. What’s interesting is that I did not think of myself as an affiliate marketer, or an Internet marketer, or any kind of marketer or sales person. In fact, if you had suggested such a thing to me I would have cringed at the thought.

What happened was that I first started on the Internet pursing a passion. That passion was entirely unrelated to Internet marketing. I developed a web site. A small audience grew to a larger audience. People took notice. I offered advice and folks found value in it. It was a gradual, genuine process. I formed relationships.

The marketing came out of accident and necessity. One member of my small audience was making a living as an Internet marketer and suggested that I could probably cover the cost of my web server and other expenses through the Good Adsense program. She explained the basics of how the program worked and I followed her lead.

Adsense provided a nice steady income. It was by no means “big money” but it was a consistent producer. I was quite happy with the results and had no plans to look further.

The next step in the evolution was when another member of my growing audience introduced me to a gentleman who was just starting to sell a new home study program on the Internet and had just started an affiliate marketing program. He provided me with a complimentary preview copy of his program and I was impressed. I liked it enough that I wanted to spend time with it and I agreed to share it with my online community.

I didn’t realize it, but I was now a marketer. I shared this home study course and several others made the decision to purchase the product through my affiliate link. I told people that if they did buy the course that I would host an online study group. Once each week we had a telephone conference and helped each other learn the material and apply it in a practical manner.

The study sessions resulted in some very positive feedback. That lead to more sales and I soon found myself identified as a Super Affiliate.

The whole experience was a very positive one for me on a lot of levels. For the first time in my life I found myself absolutely fascinated with the concept of marketing. A began studying the subject and learned about the concept of “consultative selling.” This was my niche…

Consultative sales is a process by which you help your customer along the process of identifying their particular needs and then educate them about the available solutions. The goal is to help them satisfy their needs in a manner that truly benefits them, while furthering your long-term relationship with them. Even if an immediate sale is not realized, the bigger picture is that you want to establish sufficient credibility with them that they will value your insight and opinion.

This is the tact I tend to take with my affiliate marketing. I seek out products and services that I fill a need, then either become a customer myself or ask for a preview copy. In general, I do not want to sell things “sight unseen.” This is not always possible, because I have marketed some live seminars and those you just have to attend to find out if they’re good. In this situation, I stick with seminars that are produced by people I know and trust to deliver a good quality experience.

New marketers are often tempted to sell anything and everything, just to make a buck. I think this is partly greed and also a function of simply doing what they see the “big guys” doing.

Most don’t see the sales materialize, however. The “big guys” have spent a lot of time developing name recognition. It’s sort of like famous sports star endorsing a product. People will buy simply because their favorite athlete endorses it.

The same is true on the Internet. A well known marketer will send out an e-mail to their list promoting a new e-book which they may or may not have read themselves, simply because they know that 1% or more of their list will buy the book and generate commissions.

The problem with this approach is that you begin to see a lot of turn over on your list because after a while folks catch on that you’re just pushing anything and everything at them. They hit the “spam” button or un-susbcribe. The “big guys” understand this, but they have the muscle to constantly replace the leads that drop off their lists.

A different approach is to seek out a relationship with your subscribers and the members of your online community. Enjoy the relationship, value it, and think of them as your friends. From time to time you will present them with offers for various products or services, but only those that you find particularly valuable.

You’ll adopt a consultative sales model, helping each person to evalaute whether the product in question is appropriate for their needs. Over time, you will develop an inventory of products and services that are either part of your affiliate network or that are your own offerings. That inventory will become a powerful part of your marketing arsenal.

Remember that the job of a marketer is to help their customers to improve their lives. If your product or service does not improve the situation of your client, why are you offering it? Is it simply to generate commissions for your pocket? That short-term, short-sighted greed will never pay-off in the long run.

In any event, I am back after the big promotion! I have helped my clients to improve their lives and have been compensated for the effort.

To your success!

-Chris

September 21st, 2007 by Chris | No Comments »