Afraid of Competition? Competition Is Good!

Staying Ahead of the Competition
Wherever there is opportunity, there will be a demand for supply. Internet marketing and affiliate marketing is generating thousands of dollars of income to individuals who are making this their business and taking that business seriously.

Research Your Competition
While there is a tremendous demand for affiliate programs, joint ventures (JV), it is not so easy to decide which one is best for you. Using the tips in my series on affiliate marketin basics gives you a lot of information you can use in making this decision. But the one topic that we are going to focus on in this section should be considered as well: researching your competition.

KISS
Most people already have an idea of a product or service they would like to promote and sell when they begin to explore internet marketing or affiliate marketing programs. Generally, in the beginning while you “learn the ropes” of affiliate marketing, it is a good idea to use the KISS rule: “Keep It Simple Stupid”.

By far the most popular item on the Internet- free and sold - are information and software products such as utility programs, e-books, e-course, downloadable CD or audio programs.

Their popularity with internet marketers, affiliate marketers and JV’s is easy to understand; you do not need a lot of money or space for inventory to get started. Consider your interests or expertise and the scope of the product, who would be interested in the subject matter. For informational products it is best to choose a subject that give you room to specialize such as:

· money management
· relationship issues
· business operation
· health and fitness

These general topics appeal to most people. From this point you can begin to narrow your focus, using the research you’ve done with Keywords or Key Phrases. From the point of “expertise” it is important to keep in mind what you know is your motivation.

You Write - Communicate Enthusiastically When…
Enthusiasm is contagious, it is easy to talk about the topics that interest or excite your imagination. Here is where you can find the answer to the question of which information products do you want to promote and sell - What Are You Passionate About?

It makes sense to choose something that interests you, because you will be spending many hours learning about how to accomplish the goal of creating the income you desire with this business. Here is your opportunity to break away from the tedious working for a paycheck doing tasks that you do not like.

Once you have made your choice of what you want to learn about and help others learn about, you will be surprised by the liberating feeling you will experience after you make this decision.

And this passion for your work is a vital ingredient that will carry through to your target audience; in your website content and your other promotional material, the life and vitality that you have for your product will be felt. You will be more believable because you are sincere in what you are saying. As time goes by this energy will be instrumental in building trust and sales with your audience.

But…What About Competition
Let’s look at the other side of the situation; your competition. Because informational products are easy to promote and sell, you will find that there are many others who share your perspective and in many cases, your passion for their affiliate marketing business. Many of these marketers have been in the business for years. How can you compete with them?

Study Your Competition
You do not have to, it is much more to your advantage to study what they are doing, how they do it and then test their methods to see if they will work for you. Keeping the idea of targeted niche marketing in mind, research your competition and the product they are promoting.

Visit their website and study the design, sign up for their newsletter and review their sale material. Check their website stats on Alexa.com, run a search on Google and see where their site ranks.  If you take the time to do this type of research on your product, competition and prospective customer base, you will be in a better position to begin earning an income once you website is up and running.

It is also important to keep your finger on the pulse of the events that affect whatever topic of interest you choose to use as the basis of your internet marketing business. For example, if you are fascinated by video production, it is a good idea to subscribe to newsfeeds that cover this area to stay current on the new developments, products and services being offered and install them on your website for your visitors.

Market What Your Competition Lacks
Understanding that you have competition is one thing. Approaching your customer base with confidence comes from offering them something that the competition is lacking.

Be aware, that just like you are watching the competition, they are watching you as well.

In operating your business in an electronic environment, your website, product and services are just as accessible to them for review as theirs is to you. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself in the game of “who can do it better”. Take the challenge in stride and enjoy the ride!

Michael Wise
eMarketProfitStrategies.com

But My Pictures and Images Are Awesome!

Pictures and images are pretty, some of them even dance, but I my opinion; the fewer images on your website the better. Don’t worry, your visitors will not miss them, they have seen plenty of graphics on their way to your site. From the testing that I’ve done, the more basic and “underground” looking a site is the more credibility you have.

In addition, too many graphics will make your site load slowly. Slow loading pages will cause a visitor to click “back” in just a few seconds. As a marketer or an affiliate marketer, you’ve got to make sure the layout and “time to load” of your website is quick! You’ve got to answer this question in 10 seconds or less: “What’s in it for me?”

Simple Layout
Make sure that your website design uses a simple layout with a prominent, easy to find link to each major page or category on your site. When your visitor comes to your site, show respect for their time; make the experience as enjoyable and uncomplicated as possible.

If you offer a newsletter, make it very easy for people to sign up by having the subscription details on every page of your site. As you publish your newsletters, offer your visitors a newsletter archives section on your site.

The content on your marketing or affiliate marketing website should be focused on a theme: if you are an affiliate for a beauty company, your website content can be supplied by 10 different writers – as long as the articles are all beauty related. For the articles you write, include your sales links at the bottom of each page your articles appear on.

Tell people about yourself through a ‘Contact’ page. Remember that you have to take every opportunity to build trust with your visitors. Make yourself accessible and they will instantly feel more comfortable and more likely to click your affiliate links!

Search Engine Technology Changes Rapidly
Stay alert to the Internet technology changes, particularly the search engines and web hosting. Review your website design every three months at a minimum. Incorporate new design elements when it is necessary to “comply” with the newest search engine changes. Continue to update and add new content to your marketing website, visitors like to see new things, and updating your site regularly will encourage them to come to your site more often.

Michael Wise
eMarketProfitStrategies.com

Can I Trust You? Building Trust in Your Business

There are other ways to spread the word, Let me suggest a few names to you:
·    Frank Kern
·    Mike Filsaime
·    Michelle MacPhearson
·    Joel Comm
·    Andy Jenkins
·    Dr Joe Vitale

What do these people have in common? They are all published writers on the Internet, specializing in supplying content on marketing, making money on the Internet and just about everything between.

Content IS King!
Every person who has been watching the Internet and any article regarding information/content and search engine strategies; knows that Content is King! Most site visitors are looking for information of some kind when they go to a site or subscribe to an ezine.

Building trust does indeed take time and these “Internet Gurus” understand that the best way to attract and keep visitor traffic is to provide them with what they want. By providing free information and give aways, they are able to provide their readers and site visitors with high quality content.

There are many sources for free-reprint articles, that can be used to provide your visitors with high-quality content subscribers and surfers demand. And in the process you are establishing a familiarity with your product or service and how it can help your visitors to accomplish their goals.

Writing about your product or service does not have to be difficult, the best style of writing these types of articles is in a friendly, conversational tone. You are addressing a specific problem, giving a recommendation to the person that you feel confident will provide the solution for them.

There are also hundreds of articles that are available to use as content for your website, newsletter or ezine and if you want to hire someone to writer articles for you, there are several agencies that you can contact for this service.

It all adds up the same: it doesn’t matter whether you have been operating an online business for 1 month or 10 years, or you are looking to find your first customer or your hundredth customer, you have to give people the information that they need to establish a level of trust in you.

The choice of methods is up to you; of writing yourself, obtaining free reprint content or hiring a writer for yourself can all provide the same result – quality information about the subject that interests your prospective customer the most.

Operating a marketing or affiliate marketing website means that you have to incorporate your information in a format that will help you convert visitors into sales.

Content…Content…Content
For the real estate industry it is Location, Location, Location, but for Internet businesses it is Content. Content. Content! The evidence has been reviewed and the verdict is in. Visitors want good quality content and lots of it. So give them what they want. It can be in a variety of forms; articles, tips, newsletter archives and details of each product or service on your site.

Michael Wise
eMarketProfitStrategies.com

Information as a Sales Tool - Article Marketing

Dreaming of “Overnight Riches”?
There are many more stories of broken Internet business dreams than ones of success. Many people have cleaned out their bank accounts in pursuit of the “overnight riches” that is highly touted on the radio, television and Internet, only to find that the overnight riches belonged to the one pitching the program.

As a result of these types of experiences, the individuals who have decided to change their method of operation are coming to terms with the fact that their dreams can be realized by using methods that work in concert with factual information, products and services that have market appeal and techniques that address the way people make their purchase decisions.

If the challenge of finding customers has you wondering what to do, you have done exactly what thousands of others had done: started to search for information. This brings us to the point of this article: how to use information as a marketing sales tool.

Power of Article Marketing
Article writing for the Internet is experiencing a huge boost of popularity. Why? Because most people use the Internet to find information. Articles have always been written and published, but today many internet marketers are strategically building trust and “readership” through Article Marketing.

No matter what product or service you choose for your marketing or affiliate marketing business, the fact still remains that you must give people information about it so that they can make a purchase decision. No one is going to buy a product without knowing how it works, what it will do for them and how much it costs.

Using graphic images and flashy headlines no longer satisfies the savvy Internet shopper. For those individuals who shop online regularly, they have long since become familiar with cool graphics and luring headlines.

Promoting a product or service by low price alone won’t work either, because the marketplace is global and the competition is such that some merchants will sell an item at an incredibly low price because they know they will sell huge quantities of the goods.

There is no “Magic Formula”
If you are subscribing to every newsletter, ezine and e-book in sight to find the magic formula to gain customers, you might be in for a disappointment. The truth of the matter is that it takes a combination of factors to find, retain and service customers.

Operating a business online has as many advantages and disadvantages, as a brick and mortar business has to face. The challenge is to understand the differences in the dynamics between these two ways of doing business and apply the correct set of principles to make it work.

For example, in the physical world, a customer enters a store that has an item they are interested in buying. There is a salesperson present to answer their questions and demonstrate how the product works. If the person is satisfied, with all that they have heard, seen and experienced to the point where they are ready to purchase the product a sale takes place.

Shopping is a Social Experience!
On the other hand, shopping on the Internet is a completely different experience. And this is the first thing that many internet marketers and affiliate marketers lose sight of. Shopping is a social experience. When a person visits your site, they are greeted by text and images instead of a human being. Even if there is a picture of a person on the site, the visitor has no way of knowing if that is a real person.

This underscores the greatest challenge that everyone who is working online has to face:
how to build trust in the hearts and minds of the people who need our products or services.

Online marketing is a process that normally cannot be accomplished in one fell swoop. It takes time to establish trust when we are face-to-face, why do we think it will be easier to do this when we are on the Internet?

There are many methods you can use to promote your internet marketing or affiliate marketing business, but none of them will work if they are only used one time. The rate of information exchange on the Internet is as fast as lightning. You cannot expect someone to buy your “widget” if your single advertising banner flashed at them once last month.

You can spend hundreds of dollars on banner advertising and still not be any closer to building the interest or the trust necessary to make them click their mouse and visit your website.

Strategically use Information
Obviously, you cannot rely on banner advertising to bring the customers you need, so what CAN you do to get them to your site?
Give them what they want:
Information.
Information that they (your customer) want by researching their interests and problems.
Information on the benefits of your product or service and how it will SOLVE their problems - and - make their lives better.

People are being bombarded by advertising images and messages all the time. On the radio, the television, and the Internet. This is what makes marketing through information more effective. If you construct your article in the same tone as you would talk to a friend who has come to you for advice about a problem they have, you will begin to gain the trust of whoever reads that article.

With the millions of websites and social media sources on the Internet, the possibility a person will see and act on a “banner ad” depends completely on the amount of money in your marketing budget. But if a person needs to know the definition of a word, they are more likely to go back to dictionary.com because they know they will find the information they are looking for there.

Work To Become The Source
The same holds true for your internet marketing or affiliate marketing website. If you focus your attention on defining your niche on the Internet, and then work toward becoming the source of information that is relevant to all of the people in that niche, you are now in the position to become the “dictionary” so to speak.

Writing and publishing articles is one of the best ways to create the reliability and trust you want for your marketing website. Each article you write and publish is like a little “salesman” out working for you.

Newsletters and ezines delivered by email is also a great way for building trust in your products and services. But the challenge is to first get the subscribers or website visitors and then to deliver informative content that is different every time. Once you begin to build a mailing list of subscribers, it is fairly easy to keep them coming back.

Michael Wise
eMarketProfitStrategies.com