Affiliate marketing alert - there isn't any in this article. I'm not trying to sell anything! Ever since I came across the idea of internet marketing while idly trawling the web, I've been obsessed by it. And not in a good way. It became clear quite quickly that there ARE people making money - in some cases a lot of money - from Google AdSense and Affiliate Marketing.There are also a lot of people making a lot of money from selling other people ebooks revealing the secret of making money online - we might describe this as recursive profiteering. The reason I say I'm not obsessed in a good way is that, like so many other people, I became obsessed with reading about making money. There is just so much information out there, so many blogs to read, courses to sign up for, schemes to sign up for, ebooks to buy - and I fell for the lot. I'd be embarrassed to admit how much I've spent on MMO crap. So I won't. Let's just say I've been there, done it, got the T-Shirt (literally in some cases). And what have I discovered? Well, for a start, there's no great secret. You choose a topic to write about, you set up a webpage, you sign up for AdSense, you wait for the punters to start rolling in. It really is that simple. Of course, most people know that much already. They also know that the devil is in the detail - how do I choose a topic to write about? When do the punters start rolling in? How do I get more of them?
It's at this point, when you're site's been up for months and made not a single cent, that even the savvy surfer trying to make a legitimate online income gets tempted by the gurus. '$30 for an ebook that will tell me how to do make thousands? Bargain. I'll have one of those.' Don't! There is plenty of excellent free information out there. The Blogger Unleashed website could zip up its content into an ebook, sell it for $100, and it WOULD be worth it. Just Google 'Make Money Online' and be selective about what you click through to (not easy, I know, with so many cowboys out there). Or go straight to Blogger Unleashed where you will find plenty of excellent information, further links, and no pressure to buy anything (although there are of course adverts - a guy's got to eat, right?). Why wait? Graeme has a number of websites from which he makes a little money each month. If you would like an answer to the question Can You Make Easy Money Online?, then please drop by! Here's where he reveals the secret of how he made more than two pounds with a make money online website
6 Ways to Maximize Twitter As an Effective Marketing Tool
It's at this point, when you're site's been up for months and made not a single cent, that even the savvy surfer trying to make a legitimate online income gets tempted by the gurus. '$30 for an ebook that will tell me how to do make thousands? Bargain. I'll have one of those.' Don't! There is plenty of excellent free information out there. The Blogger Unleashed website could zip up its content into an ebook, sell it for $100, and it WOULD be worth it. Just Google 'Make Money Online' and be selective about what you click through to (not easy, I know, with so many cowboys out there). Or go straight to Blogger Unleashed where you will find plenty of excellent information, further links, and no pressure to buy anything (although there are of course adverts - a guy's got to eat, right?). Why wait? Graeme has a number of websites from which he makes a little money each month. If you would like an answer to the question Can You Make Easy Money Online?, then please drop by! Here's where he reveals the secret of how he made more than two pounds with a make money online website
6 Ways to Maximize Twitter As an Effective Marketing Tool
I've only been using Twitter for a few months, but I quickly learned that 1) there's a few different ways to use it, 2) if you are using Twitter all by itself, you are only seeing a tiny glimpse of its power, and 3) it can get addictive. It's a great place to get updates and socialize, but it can be an effective marketing tool when used correctly.
1. Offer value
I've seen users who tweet the same link to their sales page over and over, or worse, the same exact tweet. This is such a turn off. Know your audience, and offer something valuable and be of interest to them.
2. Get followers
When you follow people, they will be likely to follow you back. This is not to say you should blanketly follow everybody. If you were to target market, you want followers in your own niche. Wefollow.com and Mrtweet.com are both good places to find people by certain keywords and that are relevant to you.
3. Interact
As people get to know you, they are a lot more likely to buy your product. I use TweetDeck as my Twitter client. Not only can you add multiple Twitter accounts, you can also add Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn accounts, and you can view all of these without logging in and out. You can monitor @ mentions so you'll know when someone mentions you or @ reply, even if you don't follow them. You can also add your own search term to monitor your keywords.
4. Monitor your links
Bit.ly is a url shorten-er which comes in handy for Twitter since you only have up to 140 characters per tweet. Bit.ly monitors the clicks so you'll know how many people clicked your links. If you use TweetDeck, you can set it to automatically shorten urls via bit.ly. A cool trick - you could use this to test your ad copy. Tweet different headers and see which one pulls the best.
5. Automate
Socialoomph.com formerly Tweet Later, is a Twitter management tool. You can configure it to automatically follow who follow you, unfollow who unfollow you, send direct message to all your new followers, or only to those who you approve. You can also schedule a tweet to go out at a specified time.
6. Know when to tweet
Does it matter when you tweet? A study shows more people are on Twitter in the afternoon to evening, and on weekends. Also, whatever your latest tweet is the one that gets the most attention. Keep this in mind when you have an important announcement, or a link you want a lot of people to click.
Twitter is also known to quickly shut down accounts that are suspicious, so don't be too aggressive. The good thing about Twitter is that most of the tools are either free, or have a free option.
1. Offer value
I've seen users who tweet the same link to their sales page over and over, or worse, the same exact tweet. This is such a turn off. Know your audience, and offer something valuable and be of interest to them.
2. Get followers
When you follow people, they will be likely to follow you back. This is not to say you should blanketly follow everybody. If you were to target market, you want followers in your own niche. Wefollow.com and Mrtweet.com are both good places to find people by certain keywords and that are relevant to you.
3. Interact
As people get to know you, they are a lot more likely to buy your product. I use TweetDeck as my Twitter client. Not only can you add multiple Twitter accounts, you can also add Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn accounts, and you can view all of these without logging in and out. You can monitor @ mentions so you'll know when someone mentions you or @ reply, even if you don't follow them. You can also add your own search term to monitor your keywords.
4. Monitor your links
Bit.ly is a url shorten-er which comes in handy for Twitter since you only have up to 140 characters per tweet. Bit.ly monitors the clicks so you'll know how many people clicked your links. If you use TweetDeck, you can set it to automatically shorten urls via bit.ly. A cool trick - you could use this to test your ad copy. Tweet different headers and see which one pulls the best.
5. Automate
Socialoomph.com formerly Tweet Later, is a Twitter management tool. You can configure it to automatically follow who follow you, unfollow who unfollow you, send direct message to all your new followers, or only to those who you approve. You can also schedule a tweet to go out at a specified time.
6. Know when to tweet
Does it matter when you tweet? A study shows more people are on Twitter in the afternoon to evening, and on weekends. Also, whatever your latest tweet is the one that gets the most attention. Keep this in mind when you have an important announcement, or a link you want a lot of people to click.
Twitter is also known to quickly shut down accounts that are suspicious, so don't be too aggressive. The good thing about Twitter is that most of the tools are either free, or have a free option.
Twitter marketing is becoming a standard Marketing Strategy. Ellie Yamane is a life coach and a marketing expert based in Los Angeles.
