Many people think that they need their own website to get started with an Internet marketing business. While a website can be very useful (promoting multiple products, utilizing search engine traffic, etc.), it is not a necessity. You can create a successful home business with nothing more than pre-fabricated affiliate pages, sales pages, or landing pages.....and of course a few effective ways to advertise them.
I want to tell you about several ways that you can market your affiliate pages to earn a profit online without the financial investment of building a website. I personally used these very methods, in the same fashion that I am going to teach you, to build a decent residual affiliate income. I have since moved on to website development, but I still utilize these methods to get the traffic started on a new site, or when I have a new product that I want to quickly market.
Free Online Classifieds- Classifieds, when done correctly, can be a very advantageous way to spend a few minutes a day. That's what's great about it, you only need to invest a few minutes a day to receive the benefits. I have a few recommendations, things that have worked very well for me, that should boost the overall effectiveness of any classified ad campaign. The first thing to keep in mind is that you are going to want to spend a little time in the beginning researching the best online classified sites for you to post. Start by doing a Google search (or any engine search) for "free classifieds" or something similar. You should end up with a wide variety of possibilities. Always start at the top of the list (these will generally receive higher traffic) and do a little "snooping around" the site. Is there a good category (or categories) that you would be able to post in? Are others promoting the same thing you are, is the competition too high? Use your judgment and locate a few sites that seem promising.
The next thing to keep in mind is when you place your ads. Many people do not know what a huge difference this makes, but I know from personal experience that it does. Since classifieds gradually move down in position as new ads are listed, you only have a certain "window" of time where your ad will get maximum exposure. Sure they may get listed in the search engines after 5 days (which is definitely a bonus), but we are talking about fast, powerful results. Posting your ads when the Internet traffic is at its peak will get your ad in front of the largest number of prospects. Noon is by far the highest traffic time. It drops a little at 1:00 pm (but still high) and remains good until around 10:00 pm. Then the Net loses a great deal of traffic until about 9:00 am where it spikes, and again it skyrockets at noon. I have always had the best results posting ads in the early afternoon, or around 11:00 am, right before the mid-day rush. I usually post on a daily basis, especially when I want a lot of traffic and exposure very quickly, without dropping a fortune on PPC's. If you only want to post ads a few days a week, then you are best to post on the highest traffic days of the week. Monday is the second highest, and the highest (by a long-shot) is Tuesday. After Tuesday you will have a steady decline all the way to Saturday, the lowest traffic day of the week. Sunday boosts a little, but still low compared to the rest of the week.
Article Marketing-Article marketing has been a new venture for me, but what a successful one it has been so far. I like article marketing for a few reasons. First it is free, and that is always a bonus, especially since getting good PPC results can cost an arm and a leg. Article writing shares the same benefits as classifieds, however the results last for a much longer time. Another great thing about article marketing is the fact that if you keyword your article correctly, your can be listed and ranked rather well in the search engines. After only a few weeks I found a couple of my articles ranked in the top ten at a couple of search engines. This is very exciting. This is a perfect way to utilize the search engines without having to build your own website.
There are a couple things to keep in mind that will get you the best results from article marketing, both from the visitors you receive directly from the article, and also getting ranked in the search engines. To get you ad clicked on and viewed by the greatest number of people from the article directory itself, be sure and make the headline very compelling. A great headline will get noticed and inspire individuals to click on your article. A headline is key, and it is just as important when doing free classified advertising as mentioned above. The next thing you want to do to get the most out of your article marketing efforts is create them in a way that pleases the search engines, therefore getting your articles listed and ranked well. This can be a very powerful thing to do. The key is choosing a low competition keyword, one that has good demand and low supply, and then using it in a way that meets the search engine standards. To do this use the keyword about once per 100 words in your article, and don't ever try and cram in keywords. Play by the rules. You should also ad the keyword one time in the headline of the article, as well as once in the description.
Traffic Exchanges-Traffic exchanges should not be used if you are promoting your own website, as they may have an adverse effect on search engine results. If you promote using affiliate links, sales pages, landing or gateway pages, then the traffic exchanges are a good way get free and easy exposure to you pages. I have used affiliate sign-up pages with good results, and was able to sponsor some motivated individuals very easily. My favorite traffic exchange is trafficswarm.com This is a great place to see how TE's work, and if you like it, you will find links to other top TE's. This will obviously not replace your other advertising campaigns, but it is a simple way to generate some free leads, traffic, and possible sales.
Offline Marketing and Word of Mouth- I added this Internet marketing method before the rest of this list because I feel that it can be a very advantageous way to promote your online business, one that many people never think to do. Do you think that an online business should not be promoted offline? Well what sense does that make, considering the same people in the "real world" are the same people that surf the Net on a daily basis, and the same people that may be interested in your offerings. The simplest way that I have found to do offline or word of mouth promoting is to make up some free business cards with the URL to my offerings. Whenever you are talking with someone who may be interested in whatever you offer online, slip them a business card. If you simply tell them, they will most likely forget. If they get home and pull your card out of their pocket, well you may have just made a sale or sponsored a new team member. You can get FREE business cards from Vistaprint.com. It costs only a few dollars for shipping, and you get hundreds of very professional looking business cards.
Signature Emails- This is something that just about every home business owner or Internet marketer should do. It takes only a few seconds to add a signature in your email account, including your URL and a brief description. After you set it up, every single email you send out will offer a potential lead. Very simple, free, and takes only a few seconds to set up. Why leave out the little things? All traffic is good traffic in my book.
Blogging- Blogging is something else that is new to me, and I have just started a blog, mostly to see what I could get out of it. Plus if I find something that really works, I can share it with others. What I have noticed from some very successful bloggers is that they optimize their blogs for the search engines, thus providing them with much more traffic than the average blogger. Utilize the same techniques for optimizing an article. Find low a low competition keyword, use it in the headline, description, and once per hundred words. Most of the other successful bloggers that I have been studying do a very good job at networking. They have a way of making contacts with their blogs, getting repeat visitors, and a network of others who share the same interests. If you are a good net-worker, and are good at pulling people to your side, blogging may definitely be a great way for you to promote. I know that wordpress lets users make webpages out of their blog, giving you a very inexpensive (free actually) way to create a website.
Pay-Per-Clicks-Pay Per Clicks are the easiest way to get extremely targeted traffic to any page. Surely you know something about pay-per-clicks, and perhaps you have used them before. There is only one drawback to using PPC's, they can be very expensive. If you have an advertising budget and do not mind investing in your online business, PPC's are definitely the way to go. Unlike other forms of paid for advertising, PPC's actually offer guaranteed results. Since you only pay for visits to your page, you have no waste. To get the most out of your PPC budget, be sure to do a little research before going ahead with your campaign. Different keywords cost more or less, depending on the competition and demand of those keywords from other PPC users. The good news is that many people do not do any research, and use the most common keywords, the ones that often cost the most.
By investing a little time in preparation, you can find keywords that will still attract only your target audience, but because they are not used as much by other PPC advertisers, you can get top listings with them for a fraction of the cost. It is always best to choose a few different keywords, and test them out side by side. You can choose a few and monitor the results you get from each one. You will find the best performers, and the ones that are costing you the least amount of money. Drop the worst ones and keep the best. You can then add a few new ones, compare them to your previous winners, and gradually build a campaign of highly targeted and inexpensive keywords.
Diversifying You Internet Marketing Methods
Each of the Internet marketing methods mentioned above can be used to generate sales, leads, and traffic to any webpage. Depending on your products or services, and your personal abilities, you may find that some of the methods work better for you than others. I have had the best results when I choose a few of the methods that I think are the best fit for me, my budget, and my current promotions. I get well acquainted with the methods I choose, and then put most of my efforts utilizing them. Just as a diverse income is the largest and most stable, a diverse advertising campaign is the best way to reach out into a wide audience, and ensure that you are producing the results that you are seeking.
I wish you the best of luck with all of your home business and financial freedom goals. If you would like more information on the methods mentioned above, including a detailed explanation, tips, strategies, and advice for maximum effectiveness, visit http://www.home-business-advantage.com/website-marketing-strategies.html
