Marketing and Advertising a Business On-line

One way Mr. Onlysimchas.com suggested I get better at learning this online business advertising stuff, is to offer to promote other businesses online.  To offer my services to get them noticed and give them an online presence.

Today, I was contacted by a connection on LinkedIn- an accountant - to help them promote their firm's services online.

This will be my first experiment.

I googled something like "how to advertise my business online."

So far I got some answers from: http://www.myownbusiness.org/s9/

They are mainly:
1) Getting a website (not an option right now).
2) Search Engine Placement - High Rankings with google and yahoo. (I think this only works with having a website and optimizing it to rank high.)
3) Pay Per Click Advertising: Consider "pay per click" strategies such as Yahoo.com , Google.com and MSN.com to enhance your overall marketing strategy. Pay per click now offers local search options to better reach a targeted audience.
This is the one I plan to try ... Getting the business ads in local listings and searches for accountants...
WITH G-D"S HELP!!!!

Internet Marketing

Just reading an article saying that any entrepreneur's dream is of course to be in "control" of one's own financial destiny.  Starting a home based business is an idea for a aspiring entreprenuers.  And, with the advent today of online marketing and advertising, which is virtually free - one must just teach themselves the ropes and within about 2-3 years they can be proficient enough to market their products effectively.
The networking capacity of the internet is great.  Of course there are risks involved with starting your own business, but that's just business.

An idea for Today:
1) Maybe I will use my $75 free trial with google Ads to promote this blog?
2) Read more from my on-line business book I took out from the library called "An Idiot's Guide to Web-based Business"

Search Engine Optimization/Marketing Companies

Search Engine Optimization (SEO and web marketing) companies seem to be a dime a dozen.  The more I do research on how to market a blog (or any website or business), the more companies I seem to stumble upon.

PPC, Web 2.0 - this is all lingo for something ... Hi-tech on-line marketing. 
I've since joined so many groups in LinkedIn that are involved in webmarketing.
Here is just one example of a description for one such company known as "Prime Visibility" (http://www.primevisibility.com/):

"Recognized on the INC List of Fastest Growing companies in the US, Prime Visibility is a leading Internet marketing firm focusing on website optimization (SEO), paid search (SEM) and Web 2.0 (social media optimization.) Since 1997, Prime Visibility, an award-winning full-service Internet marketing company, has been committed to leveling the playing field so that every business, large and small, has the opportunity to make a significant impression on the Internet. We specialize in developing strategies that can exponentially increase a website's visibility while lowering customer acquisition costs. Most importantly, we help our clients get measurable results like more qualified leads, more on-site conversions, and a high Return On Investment (ROI)".

It's getting a bit overwhelming so see so many people specializing in this industry.  I'm wondering if there is strong competition, if the market is flooded with digital advertising or is it still a growing and needed field.

Questions to ask myself:
Do I want to be a perpetual student of new media???
I'm going to try a bit each day for a little longer.  Worst case scenario it will be a hobby and something new to sharpen my mind and know about.

I just submitted an article with www.ezinearticles.com .
Whether it gets accepted or not, I'm not so sure I care.  Article marketing is supposedly SO big, that I had to try it out and get my feet wet.  I added my URL - (link to this blog) and site description. The article was basically a copy and paste of my first post on this blog.  It looks like fun - because you can post articles on virtually any topic of interest within their selected array of categories.  We shall see what happens, but this was a goal I wanted to accomplish.  Enough of an accomplishment for me so far.  Again, this is all in the name of establishing an on-line presence so that I will get more traffic and hits onto my blog - since statistically, you need about 500 new hits a day in order to really monetize off of online advertising or affiliates on your site.  Phew!

Posting to get More Traffic and Hits to Website ... (Instead of just my loyal friends... )

Today so far I posted on Cragslist (free advertising!) for my website.  Just to tell people it exists.

Here is what I posted as a description:

http://new-to-new-media.blogspot.com/
Please join me on my journey as I navigate the world of online media from a beginner's standpoint.  Learn the basics with me of affiliate marketing, online advertising, blog marketing, SEO - Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, how to drive traffic to your website (like posting on Craigslist!) and more!  It is written is a very step-by-step easy to read fashion and is entertaining to!!!!!  Please come check it out.

I've also been commenting on other sites and posting my opinion and leaving my URL.
It's fun because then I get to read interesting information on the web - on my field of research - (all this web stuff - affiliate marketing, blogging, blog marketing, online business, virtual stuff etc).

Affiliate Marketing - Much More to Shake it Up

Again, I do not want to lose my enthusiasm towards building an online business.
I'm going to shift focus a bit more now on reading more about affiliate marketing and on-line business ideas - ways to make money virtually.
Yes, I have established so far that I need good content etc to optimize my site and make it's Search Engine Optimization (SEO) better to get more hits.  But that has been causing me nightmares.
So, before I get completely discouraged with all of the traffic, high-ranking, SEO tips, I'm going to focus on how money will be generated.

One of the top hits on google for online business is:
http://www.ahbbo.com/
A Home-Based Business Online Practical Business Ideas, Opportunities and Strategies for the Home-Based Entrepreneur.

Topics include:
A Business Matchmaker to find a business right for you:
Ebay Selling:
Affiliate Programs:


Good Affiliate Programs:
In General:
Credit Card Companies

I'm already a member of commission junction- or http://www.cj.com/
That is like a clearinghouse to all affiliate programs.

Ok. I just signed up for a bunch of affiliate programs in my category of marketing, advertising, business etc.
But, signing up to get affiliates is really not all it is...
I just signed up to put some businesses/affiliate ads on this blog, but then you need to put it up with the HTML code stuff.

HTML
I'm going to first sign up with lots of programs ... then I will do the HTML is one day ... because I keep forgetting how to do it so I figured I'll be in the swing of it and do it a bunch together, instead of re-learning each time.  I'll follow the directions step-by-step that they give me at that point.

Apparently companies need affiliates ...
Here are some of the BIG brand-name companies that use affiliate programs to promote their products online:

Barnes & Noble Dell Discover Card Dollar Rent-a-Car eBay Eddie Bauer Gateway Gap KMart New York Times NBC

Old Navy Patagonia PayLess Shoes PetSmart SONY Sports Authority Staples TimeLife USA Today Verizon Wireless Weight Watchers

Affiliate Marketing Facts:
Revenue Magazine - is a supposedly the only magazine for the affiliate marketing industry.
Affiliate Marketing Conferences -

Affiliate Summit

Affiliate Convention

AdTech

Yanik Silver’s Underground

System Seminar

Casino Affiliate Convention

PPC Classroom

They say it's good to dip your feet into internet business with affiliate marketing - but it's until you get your own product or good to sell for yourself.  Because you only get a commission, not the lion's share of the profit.

There are affiliate programs that offer "lifetime commissions" - the website records that person as coming as a lead from your site and gives you commission on every subsequent purchase.

Traffic To Your Site:
You will need at least 500 targeted unique visitors a day to your site to make reasonable money from affiliate programs.  Yikes!!!!
 
This is advice I read in an article from: 
Elena Fawkner
Affiliate Programs ... A Not THAT Easy Start to Your Own Online Business
The only way of making SERIOUS money from affiliate programs is by creating your own product or service and recruiting affiliates to sell for YOU.  The real beauty of affiliate programs lies not in what they can do for you, as an affiliate, but what they can do for you, as a recruiter of affiliates for your own program.
Promoting other people's products is ok to start. Don't wait too long to start developing your own product line. There is a ready-made salesforce numbering in the millions ready and waiting to sell it.

Today I:
1) Signed up with http://www.cj.com/

2) Signed up with http://www.linkshare.com/ as well... Another affiliate marketing on-line chearinghouse - link exchange.

3) Added my website URL to my gmail signature.

4) I added a search bar in my blog to search for keywords within my blog.


Next time I am back I plan to (G-d willing- either Sat nite or Sun nite) :
1) Install the affiliate HTML from http://www.cj.com/ onto my blog.
2) Install the affiliate HTML from http://www.linkshare.com/ onto my blog. (RE-TRY SIGN-UP w programs)
3) Google Adwords. 
4) Learn about services like PayPerPost.Com, that pay for promotional blogposts. I can do the same thing, cutting the middleman out.
5) Check out famous blogs on Affiliate Marketing.

Back to Affiliate Marketing - Blog Content - Making Money

I am writing about the topic of affiliate marketing again because I need to re-establish my motivation.  This techie stuff is really starting to get to me. 
I am motivated by making money - residual income... virtually.
I'm just getting through reading an article by http://www.ezinemark.com/ where he writes that the best way to make residual income is through internet business.
If you do not have a product of your own to promote you can promote other people's products through affiliate marketing.
Affiliate Marketing - To promote affiliate products:
1) You need to think of what products you'd like to promote - something that interests you and your passion will drive your effort.

Again, the article says to create a blog and drive up traffic to your site.
Then to keep doing this - creating blogs- with various products you'd like to promote.

Generating Traffic through Article Marketing:

TIPS: (still from http://www.ezinemark.com/- I commented with my URL on his article btw.)

Article marketing, or content creation and syndication strategies  are NOT for those that want to get rich "quick" or make a mint overnight. It takes work... discipline and dedication to create quality content.

He says certain topics in articles generate more traffic quickly ... HOT topics like DIET, dating, divorce...

KEYWORD Research...

If you really want an avalanche of eyeballs in front of your offers, the BEST way to write articles that convert is to answer questions and position yourself as an authority in your niche.
You can use a FREE keyword tool like the Wordtracker question and answer engine to literally find out the VERBATIM questions your audience is searching for, giving you an AMAZING opportunity to literally use those very questions as your article titles... and answer them using your EXPERTISE immediately thereafter. When I've done this, I've found my articles not only get MUCH more long tail (and long term) traffic... my click through rate, and my opt in percentage thereafter, goes up exponentially to boot! (and so TOO will yours!)
This is from http://www.ezinemark.com/
---
More ways to get traffic:

Free Classifieds: Sites like: Backpage, Craigslist, Kijiji, and Gumtree.

eHow: Says:

To be successful - you need to look at the article writing as a long-term investment. 

You also need a few niches and write different types of content for different places. (in case something falls through... )

Today: 
1) I posted my URL in the comment box of a few sites. Signed up with eHow.com
2) Read a lot about writing articles and good content for a living.

Tomorrow I hope to:

1) http://www.toprankblog.com/ - Online Marketing Blog Article. Best blogs on the net.  I would like to read blogs and put my URL in comments.

Blog Marketing- Checking out Other Blogs

The more blogs are linked to a blog, the higher the page rank will be.

http://stepstothetop.blogspot.com/
This guy only has 8 followers so I will find a different blog to comment on and learn from.  Although his site is pretty informative, he hasn't updated since March 2010.

In his blog I found a definition of New Media: (just to backtrack a little).

New media is an abstract concept with a general meaning. According to Martin Lister (2003), new media is defined as media established with a sense of interactive communication, whereas the conventional media refers to established institutions and organizations such as the press, broadcasting, publishing, and so forth. In late 1980s when the media and communications looked quiet, different the idea of new media has been emerged. New media refers to the techno-culture, which is entailed of technological, cultural and social change. It is called new media as the term “new” in it carries the ideological implication of “the most recent” or “the cutting edge,” derived from a modernist belief in social progress arising through technology. New media is classified as websites, blogs, vod-casts, social networking, rich multimedia, virtual reality such as virtual shopping malls, video conferencing, mobile TV, podcast, and so on (Lister, Dovery, Giddings, Grant, & Kelly, 2003, p. 9-13).

I just noticed at the bottom of each new post there is a box on the bottom left corner that says "Labels."  I guess that is where you put in key terms of that particular day's post.

Again, huge goal is to start a business that gives me residual income ... and it seems internet is the way to go with that.