Internet Marketing Blog

Should you or shouldn’t you? Reinvest your profits, that is?

It’s a tough question, because not all the rules about what you should do with your profits apply when you are marketing online. If you are promoting affiliate products you can get access to most of them by simply signing up for free. There’s no fee to pay to become an affiliate so your operating costs are just about as low as they can get.

So what exactly can you reinvest those profits in, I hear you ask?

Advertising

Well for starters there is advertising. Now there is a lot of free advertising you can and should use online – article marketing, ad exchanges, blogging, link exchanges and much more. But that isn’t the only way to promote your business.

If you’re just starting out on a shoestring budget (shoestring meaning no spare cash at all in this instance) then free advertising will get you going. But once you start making some affiliate sales it might be time to step up in the world and think about starting up your own website.

Google Adwords

Now that takes cash, so find out how much you need and put all your earnings aside to pay for that site. You might also want to think about spending some cash on Google Adwords once you have a site to promote.

You can still keep using your free advertising methods, as these will bring in some much needed traffic; I’m talking more about getting some better exposure for your promotions and affiliated products by taking things to the next level.

Affiliate Marketing

You should never become stagnant in your affiliate marketing. Think about increasing your visibility and how you can funnel some or all of your profits back into your business to grow it to the next level. It’s an important technique to master, and it can bag you even more sales – and profits – in the future.

So bear it in mind the next time you think about blowing those profits on something for yourself, and blow them on something that will pay you back big time instead:

Your business.

Sean Rasmussen
Internet Marketing Blog
WealthCreationAffiliate.com © 2007

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We all have our own working patterns that suit us. The trick is in finding out what they are so we can get the most work done in the shortest amount of time possible.

This might seem like a small detail, but knowing the answer can make all the difference between earning a part time income and a full time income from your internet marketing efforts.

The best way to figure out how you work is to keep a timetable for a couple of weeks. Try working on your marketing efforts at different times of the day and see what works best for you. The answers might surprise you; I tend to work very well first thing in the morning and again late afternoon and into the evening, which I guess makes me something of an early bird and a night owl all in one.

You’ll also have times when you find that trying to work is like wading through treacle and ends up being counter-productive. After all, if you’re trying to get things done and it’s just not happening, you’ll end up feeling demoralised and wondering whether you’re doing the right thing.

Chances are you ARE doing the right thing… but just at the wrong time.

Your Internet Business

Once you’ve found your best hours, start devoting those hours to your internet business and see what improvements you make. Of course there are bound to be times when the adrenalin is flowing, you’ve made a few extra sales or signed up a few more referrals and you can work at pretty much any time of day. That’s great, but don’t rely on it. Stick to your timetable wherever you can, as it will propel you more quickly towards your goal of making some real cash on the internet.

Sean Rasmussen
Internet Marketing Blog
WealthCreationAffiliate.com © 2007

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If you’re into affiliate marketing you might be one of the many sellers online who doesn’t actually have a website. Many people argue over whether you’d sell more if you had your own website, and this is one argument that will probably rumble on for ever and a day.

Truth is there is probably no definitive answer to this. It all depends on how you run your internet business, and how happy you are with the results. If you don’t want the hassle of having to maintain your website and keep it fresh, and you’re making enough cash to fulfil your needs, then why should you have a website?

Full Time Internet Marketing Income

If you’re one of the many people who want to make a full time income from internet marketing and you’d like to have your own presence instead of promoting other people’s web pages to make your money, then a website is the way to go.

There are plenty of affiliates out there who don’t have a website and who allegedly make plenty of cash without one. Conversely people who have finally taken the plunge will swear on oath that they haven’t looked back since. It’s true that it’s not as easy as just creating a website and watching as the traffic floods in. You have to generate that traffic, wait for the search engines to get you listed and visible, promote your site and be patient as traffic builds gradually over time.

I guess the big question is whether you have the patience to reap the long term rewards your own website can offer you. Some people would rather spend that time promoting plenty of sales pages for their affiliate schemes. It’s a real horses for courses scenario and you have to follow your gut in order to find the right course for you.

Here’s a Christmas card and a special gift from me: Sean’s Present To You

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to all of you!

Sean Rasmussen
Internet Marketing Blog
WealthCreationAffiliate.com © 2007

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I’m not referring to signing everything by hand, I’m referring to using a signature in every email you send out, and in every forum post you make.

Signatures are one of the best ways to generate some free publicity for no extra work, beyond setting up the signature in the first place. It can be a simple link to your own website, or maybe a link to the sales page of your latest product. Whatever you put in that signature, it can get you some extra traffic for next to no effort.

Signatures Are Valuable

If you’re like me you probably have several email accounts set up for different purposes. But what some internet business people forget is that a signature is just as valuable on your personal email account as it is on your business related ones. Why limit yourself when it costs nothing to do a little extra promotion to your friends, acquaintances, family… and even your bank manager?

The key to really making the most of your signature – apart from using it in the first place – is to make it appealing and intriguing. You have to make people want to click on it to make it worthwhile. Try out a few different ideas until you settle on one you like. Ideally, test them out on a few people and see which one gets the most votes.

Be Specific

Asking a question can pique people’s interest – they then have to click your link to see what the answer is. Also, remember the rule of being specific – so instead of saying you can make a lot of money from this, for example, say you can make as much as $24,973 in a single month. Figures work better than some abstract idea of money which could be wildly different for different people.

Once you have a signature you like, make sure you use it everywhere. You’d be surprised how many extra people you could reach with that simple marketing message over time – and you could convert some of those extra people into lifelong customers.

Here’s a Christmas card and a special gift from me: Sean’s Present To You

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year to all of you!

Sean Rasmussen
Internet Marketing Blog
WealthCreationAffiliate.com © 2007

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No internet business should settle into a pattern that never changes. Sooner or later that new product you just found that’s selling really well will cease to be new and dynamic, as the next new thing comes along to replace it.Which is why finding and promoting new ideas, products and services (whether created by you or someone else) is so important, to keep your business fresh, interesting and competitive. New marketing opportunities are always around.

What Internet Marketers To Trust

Obviously you’ll know the ins and outs of your own products, but how do you know which other items to promote? How do you know which internet marketers to trust when it comes to paying out on their affiliate programs?

Part of the answer comes from experience. As you find your way around the internet and read those email newsletters or autoresponders that keep winging their way into your inbox, you’ll get to know the names you can trust. You can also use forums to ask others for their opinions and experiences with certain affiliate programs and referral schemes.

Find Similar And Complimentary Items

But another part of evaluating any opportunity is to gauge whether a certain product really fits in with what you’re doing now. It makes sense to stick with what’s working for you, especially if you have already built an audience which is interested in a certain subject. If they’ve already developed a trust in you and are purchasing your products, it’s a good idea to find similar and complementary items that they will also be interested in.

Of course, if a totally new product becomes available then speed is of the essence, as you will want to jump on board and grab some sales before the internet marketplace is flooded with people offering the same thing. Try and sweeten your own deal by offering related items for free if they buy a new product like this. You need to think about the fact that they may receive more than one email in a single day offering the same thing; why should they choose your internet business over someone else’s?

Perhaps the final skill comes in learning to trust in your own instincts. Once you know what sells and what doesn’t, this skill should steer you towards the best choices for you.

Carpe’ Diem – Seize The Day

Sean Rasmussen
Internet Marketing Blog
WealthCreationAffiliate.com © 2007

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If you know the answer to that one, then you’re an exceptionally well organised internet marketer.

If like the rest of us and you’re struggling to find an answer, then it’s time to figure out how much of the time you devote to your internet marketing activities is actually well spent.

The best way to get your answer is to keep a blow by blow timetable for the next couple of weeks. Write it all down – from the moment you sit down at your computer to the moment you switch it off again.

• What sites do you visit and why?
• Do you ‘tweak’ your Google Adwords too much?
• How long do you spend checking your emails?
• How many hours a week do you spend on SEO?
• How much time do you devote to promoting your internet products and/or services?
• How much time do you spend looking for new products to add to your current range?

Income From Internet Activities

You might be surprised – and shocked – by the amount of time you actually spend working towards your goal of building a substantial income from your internet activities. Chances are it’s much less than you think. Building an internet business requires discipline.

The first step towards becoming more efficient is to become more aware of how you are spending your time. Make a list of the activities you do that really move you towards a bigger income from selling products and services online, and try and spend the majority of your time on those activities. The more things you can automate the better. If you use an autoresponder, block out an afternoon each week to write four emails that can go out weekly for the next month, for example. They can then be loaded onto your autoresponder in advance and sent out at weekly intervals.

You might be like me and tend to overestimate how much time it takes you to do certain jobs; over time you will be able to plan your timetable much more efficiently as you get the hang of how you work. Just be sure to use the information you gain from your efforts to structure your days more profitably.

More efficient marketing means more rewards for you and your internet business.

Sean Rasmussen
Internet Marketing Blog
WealthCreationAffiliate.com © 2007

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When was the last time you did anything different in your internet marketing life?

When did you last think, ‘Hey, let’s try an experiment to see if that idea I thought of last week would actually bring in more sales.’ When was the last time you added a different way of advertising to your usual promotional mix?

We tend to get stuck in a rut so easily that we barely notice it’s happened until long after the event itself. But staying fresh is half the battle in making sure we can earn the biggest amounts from our internet marketing efforts.

The problem isn’t even so much that we get stuck in that rut, it’s that we can’t see that we’ve stopped while everything else is still moving. In short, it’s easy to get left behind… and when we finally realise we’re lingering in other people’s dust, it takes some time to even catch up again, let alone overtake them.

The World Of Internet Marketing

Some people stare themselves blind on search engines and SEO. There’s more to it than that. I make a point of spending a few moments every day or so just surfing any interesting sites that are related to my work. I’m probably not much different to you - I subscribe to a few good email newsletters that are related to the world of internet marketing, in the hope that I’ll learn a thing or two every now and again that I can apply to my own business.

Make sure you keep that fresh input of ideas and information coming in – it helps to prevent ‘rut’ syndrome and keeps your brain active. That in itself should give you some ideas to experiment with, but always make sure you continue to push the boundaries of what you are doing, and try new methods and ideas of making a little more (or a lot more) cash from your efforts.

Even if you can only come up with one new idea every day, and only one of those ideas works each week, that’s fifty-two new ideas every year that you can set to work to improve what you’re doing and earn more money from.

Experiment a bit more with internet marketing.

Sean Rasmussen
Internet Marketing Blog
WealthCreationAffiliate.com © 2007

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There’s a common misconception that advertising you pay for is automatically worth more than anything that comes free.

Well it is in the sense that you’ve paid more for it, but it’s not necessarily true. Think for example about the fact that a paid ad runs for a certain amount of time before stopping. Dead. Compare that to the value of a free article on an article directory that sits on there for months, maybe years, getting page views day after day, and possibly getting republished on other sites along the way as well. That is doing a lot of good for your websites SEO.

Marketing And Promoting

The fact is that marketing and promoting your internet business isn’t just about how much money you can sink into advertising. It’s more than possible to achieve better results on a shoestring budget than it is placing paid adverts here there and everywhere.

The most important aspect is quality. If your product is substandard or your website doesn’t quite make the grade, no amount of paid advertising will convert leads into sales. But if you have a good solid base from which to start, you can build things up with very little cash at all. The internet might be a big place but you’d be surprised how quickly word can get around when you start putting a link to your website in your signature file on forums, adding it to the bottom of every email and distributing articles and press releases to let people know where you are and what you’re up to.

Smart Marketing

Free marketing isn’t miserly marketing, it’s smart marketing. If it’s done right it’s possible to get into profit extremely quickly because you’ve got no outlay on advertising at all. Some people even do it deliberately because they view it as a challenge.

Try it – you might be pleasantly surprised.

Sean Rasmussen
Internet Marketing Blog
WealthCreationAffiliate.com © 2007

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If your website is the cart, keyword research is the horse. In other words, don’t put the website before the keyword research.

If you’re thinking about setting up a new site on a new subject, research should be your number one keyword before you do anything else. You need to keep a lid on the excitement of starting something new and realise that the stages that occur before your website goes live are just as important – if not more so – than the stages which come afterwards.

A Good Keyword Selector Tool

Find a good keyword selector tool and use it to figure out which keywords should get you good results on Google and other search engines. If you do this in the early stages of creating your new website – ideally before the design process starts, and especially before you pick your new domain name – you’ll be able to use the results you get to create a much stronger website from the word go.

But is it any good continuing with keyword research after you’re up and running?

Keyword Research

In truth I believe keyword research always has a place in any strong internet marketing business. It’s a good way to check your progress and see whether you’re missing out on using any currently popular keywords that are being searched for. You wouldn’t want to be changing your domain name on a regular basis, but the articles and content you use will forever be refreshing themselves. Older material can be archived and the keywords will still remain in use, but new material should reflect the most popular search terms being used at that time.

Keyword research is the backbone of any good website and even though it can sometimes feel like you’re skiving if you kick back with a coffee and surf a few sites, it can actually be a profitable activity.

Keyword research is the key…

Sean Rasmussen
Internet Marketing Blog
WealthCreationAffiliate.com © 2007

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