If you are in internet marketing as a business, you should already know that diversifying your income sources is an important role for the long term success. I’ve seen many beginners hitting the jackpot with an offer with only paid traffic sources, and didn’t know what to do when the offer was gone.

At my company, we focus on both paid and organic traffic sources, therefore SEO is an important part of our daily lives. Today, my goal was to create a simple guide for our new interns about how to write search engine friendly content, but I’ve decided to write a blog post about it, and share it with my readers also.

The tips about writing SE friendly content I’ll share will be exactly what my new staff will get as an initial guidance.

Writing Quality, Search Engine Friendly Content

We run a number of blogs, product review sites, comparison sites, quality content sites and more. So, this guide is intended to offer information about writing search engine friendly content in general. Whether you are writing a blog post or a product review, the general guidelines are the same. So, here we go;

1. Start with Market Research

Understanding your competition and the audience should be the first step. Start with a simple Google Search and see what others are doing first. You have to get a feeling of what others are saying about a topic before writing any content. Try to make this a habit and always start with a general market research. When you get more experienced, it will be a piece of cake to understand how much competition is out there for a given term, and you will start shaping your content and guesstimate what you can achieve before even writing the title.

2. Do the Keyword Research

For most writing jobs, using Google’s Keyword Tool is more than enough for general keyword research. I’m not going to get into the details of keyword research here, but you have to check both phrase match and exact match numbers, and also the number of competition on Google for the specific keywords. If the main keyword you are planning to target is too competitive, you might try to target a longer tail, and less competitive keyword phrase. After making a decision on your main keyword phrase, it’s time to plan your content.

3. Create an Outline for your Content

The success will come from choosing the right title and attention grabbing introduction. If you don’t have a catchy title, the chances are your readers won’t be interested in clicking on your link and read it. Even if they click and start reading, you have to grab their attention in your first few sentences. Outline your content, write short notes about how your introduction paragraph will start, what will be in the further details, will you use a list form, how you will conclude the article, will you be using any images or not, etc. If you don’t come up with a simple outline, it’s pretty easy to get lost while you are writing the actual piece.

4. Write your Content

I have written thousands of articles, blog posts, product reviews on hundreds of topics. Am I an expert author? Hell, no. English is not even my native language. But data shows me that quality always beats quantity in the long run. You should focus on offering value to your readers. Ask these questions to yourself; If you’ve read your own article, would it offer any value to you? Would you bookmark this site? Would you be checking related or more articles on the site? If your answer is yes, you are on the right track.

If you can combine quality with quantity, you will get more organic traffic. But don’t write long just for search engines. Write long content only if there’s value to offer in it. Longer content means higher chance of getting long tail keyword traffic.

In the old days, stuffing your keywords in title, meta tags, and in the actual content would do the work. But Google and other search engines are getting smarter every day. So, instead of keyword stuffing, focus on quality stuffing. I’m being asked the same question all the time; “What should be the keyword density in an article?” My answer is, I don’t know. I don’t remember when I’ve checked the keyword density of my content last time. Forget about keyword density. Use your target keyword, and all possible variables, even synonyms in your article when writing. When writing a product review, try to use the variations of the product name. So if the product name is “Dell Inspiron 1525″, try to use variations like “Dell Inspiron1525″, “Dell Inspiron-1525″, “Inspiron Dell 1525″, etc. in your actual content.

Writing complicated content won’t bring you the nobel prize. Keep it simple, clear and make is easy to understand for your target audience. Remember, when people search, they are not looking for academic level writing, they are looking for answers, information, easy to read content.

5. Proofread your Content

When you are done writing, if possible, have somebody else proofread your content. Other than checking the spelling and grammar errors, focus on the quality of the article. Does it sound overly complicated for the target audience? Does the introduction grab your attention?

The best way to proofread your own content is; write it, leave it for at least a few hours, and come back to proofread it before publishing it.

If you owned a similar website or blog, would you link to this content? If your honest answer is yes, you’ve done an excellent job.

These are the simple steps I personally follow when writing an article, a product review, or a blog post.

When you have quality content which brings high value to the target audience, it will be like wine. It will get more traffic while it ages. More sites will link to it, more people will use it as reference, and you will enjoy absolutely free, organic traffic for the lifetime of the content you’ve just created.

Whether you personally write content, or order it from writers, following these simple steps will help you succeed in writing quality content which will generate organic traffic in the long run.

You’ve probably heard the term; “Think outside the box!” many times in your life. You’ll probably ignore it next time you hear it, again. Maybe it will remind you a brand, or a cliche quote.

For a few minutes, forget about “Think outside the box” cliche, and let’s talk about some history.

The history of humanity is the witness to great inventors, warriors, empires, kings, scientists, and smartest people who have done something remarkable during their life time. These people left a remark to the humanity, not just lived an average life.

Yes, some of them are geniuses, and some just were luckier than their peers.

But, have you ever thought about the common characteristics of the greatest people in the world history?

Is it being the smartest? or being workaholics? or being great leaders?

The answer is; none of the above.

The correct answer is;

All the greatest people in human history were lateral thinkers.

Lateral Thinking is the Key Ingredient of Creativity

When I was at high school, I had an AP Calculus teacher who wasn’t very popular along the students. Instead of showing us how to solve a tough calculus problem, her main focus was to show as many possible different ways to solve the same problem.

At the calculus exams, whoever solved the problem with the most common way used along the others would fail even if the answer was correct, and you would only get a high score if you had the most unique way of solving the problem.

We were too young and inexperienced to understand the value of this approach, but did our best to come up with alternative methods to solve the exact same problem.

Can You Become a Great Lateral Thinker?

Lateral thinking is not like leadership. You don’t need to have the skills in your genes. You can keep practicing, and improve your lateral thinking skills.

The easiest way to start is with brainstorming. Try to come up with alternative ideas to the regular, daily and usual things you observe in your personal and business life.

You don’t need to start implementing these right away, but when you start to train your brain’s right side for alternative approaches in daily life, it will be easier to adopt lateral thinking culture in the long run.

How to Implement Lateral Thinking to Your Daily Life?

Most of your business & personal life relies on Problem Solving. Your goal should be to try to look at the daily problems from a different perspective. Just like my high school calculus teacher, try very hard to come up with alternative ways to solve the daily problems.

Since I’m in marketing, my lateral thinking examples are usually about marketing topics. Here are just a few ideas to get you started. Real life examples are always better than textbooks. So, here we go;

• How we’ve sold 13 times more coffee within 2 months

A few years ago when we were trying to sell more Turkish Coffee, we’ve faced a bottleneck in the marketing plan. There were only a limited number of people in the US who even heard about Turkish Coffee. The niche market was limited, and already dominated by us (and another competitor).

With a simple lateral thinking session, I’ve come up with a new marketing plan to target only “Espresso Drinkers”. Espresso market was much much larger than our market, and we were so sure that if an espresso lover tried Turkish Coffee, they’d love it and become a returning customer.

After running our marketing campaign for over 2 months, our Turkish Coffee sales have increased over 1200%. Yes, you’ve heard it right. We’ve sold 13 times more Turkish Coffee than we used to sell before wearing our lateral thinking cap.

This is just a simple lateral thinking example while you are approaching niche markets.

• Debt Consolidation Services Marketing Success

When I was new to affiliate marketing, one of the niches I’ve researched was “debt consolidation services”. There was so much competition in the niche, it was close to impossible to turn a profit with PPC traffic (for a beginner).

But, I knew so much about debt. While I was a student, I was in both credit card and school loan debt. I knew how to help people in debt with my real life experience.

Instead of trying to sell a debt consolidation service site, I’ve created a simple blog sharing my story. I’ve posted step by step how I’ve gotten out of debt with recommendations to services/products I’ve used. Such as books to change my financial mindset, a few digital products to get my finances organized, etc.

People loved my blog, and my organic traffic kept increasing every single day. With some simple lateral thinking, instead of diving into an uber competitive niche, I’ve come up with an alternative solution which mad me money while helped people to really get out of debt.

• Craigslist Marketing Example

I’ve written a pretty long post about my craigslist marketing example, so I won’t be rewriting about it here.

Feel free to read it to get another example of successful marketing idea due to lateral thinking.

Above are just 3 simple real life examples of lateral thinking from my personal experiences. I hope they will get you started with your own brainstorming.

Keep Following the Trends or Start Setting the Trends

Whether you have a local business, a 9 to 5 job, or simply trying to make money online, today is the day to make a decision:

Will you settle with the word; average in your business and personal life, keep following trends set by others, or will you start working on lateral thinking to make a change and start setting trends in whatever you do?

Further Reading Recommendations about Lateral Thinking

I’d love to hear your real life successful lateral thinking marketing examples. Please share at the comments section below. If you got stuck and need lateral thinking ideas, why don’t you also share them, and we can start some brainstorming and try to help.

Photo Credit: Holger Eileby

I’ve recently written a blog post about PPV Affiliate Marketing. After that blog post, I’ve received a number of questions related to properly tracking target url’s for PPV traffic sources.

I’ve decided to create this step by step instruction screencast of how to setup a PPV Campaign with proper tracking, by using Prosper 202. I’ve prepared this screencast for affiliate marketers who are new to PPV traffic source, and would like an easy and free way to setup proper tracking.

Some resources mentioned in the video:

• Prosper 202
• Azoogle
• Trafficvance
• PPV eBook for absolute beginners
• Tracking202

I am an entrepreneur, and I have many entrepreneur friends.

In general, one of the common characteristics of entrepreneurs is not being a team player.

We like to do things our own way instead of relying on other people. This is great to some extent.

But trying to be a “one man show” can be a bottleneck in our business life when building a team, or asking for help.

How I Saved $100 in 30 seconds by Simply Asking

I was on Dell’s website shopping for 2 sets of new computers for the new office.

When I’m buying a computer, I am a kid in a candy store. I want to get everything.

After configuring both systems, I was confused about an option on one of the monitors, and I have decided to do a chat with a Dell rep.

I know from experience, and I wasn’t expecting to get a clear answer from Dell’s customer service, but I was surprised.

The customer rep on the chat was very helpful, and answered my question quickly. He’s also recommended a few cool stuff on sale.

Since, I was already over my planned budget for these 2 computers, I told the rep; “I’m already over the budget, but I don’t mind adding your recommendation if you can offer me an extra discount”.

I was expecting an answer like; “you can search for coupons online, or unfortunately we cannot do that, etc.” btw, I’ve already searched for coupons, and best possible deals online. So, I was getting a good deal.

Anyways, the rep said; “Sure, let me take a look at it”.

Within 10 seconds, he’s sent me a link, and when I’ve clicked the link, I have received an additional $100 in my shopping cart. I didn’t have to reconfigure anything (you know it takes time), or play with the shopping cart, etc.

$100 is better than $0. When you adopt this mindset, you can negotiate more in business deals. And, that’s what I’m doing.

At the end, I was a happy customer of Dell, who happened to save extra $100 by simply asking for it.

Dell also won from this transaction. Because I’ve decided to add a Quickbooks Pro 2010 to the transaction, which I was planning to purchase at Amazon. And I’ve left as a happier customer.

Internet Marketers Hesitate to Ask

I have met and know many brilliant internet marketers around the world. One of the main problems with internet marketers is; they are usually a “one man show”, and they are not great with communication.

If you work out of your house, and like to do things your own way, don’t worry, you can still ask for things and it really doesn’t hurt.

If you are in affiliate marketing, are you asking anything else other than a payout increase to your affiliate manager?

Here are just a few ideas you can ask to your affiliate manager;

• Custom creatives for a specific offer
• Custom landing pages specifically for you
• Keyword lists
• White label deals
• Specific toll free number only for your LP (if the offer has a toll free # on it).
• Customer demographics data
• 200 creatives (110×80pixels) to test on Facebook Ads
• And the list goes on….

Your affiliate managers are always ready to help.

They might be nice to you when you keep asking “How Can I Make Money? Could you help me?”, you won’t only be labeled as a newbie, but you will also be made fun of. And asking questions like “how can I make money with affiliate marketing” really won’t help. Or hearing which offer converts the most at the network won’t make you a millionaire.

Instead, prepare smart questions, and ask for help without hesitation.

Remember, whether it’s an affiliate company, or a direct offer you are promoting, they are the ones who need to help you.

At the end, you are sending them more customers, and helping them to make more money every single day.

It doesn’t hurt to ask, prepare your list, and pick up the phone to call your affiliate manager today, and ask for help.

Whether it’s used for offline or online marketing, a picture is sometimes worth a thousand words.

With the increasing popularity of banner advertising through media buys, Facebook Ads, Myspace & Google Content Network, choosing the right images & banners for your campaigns are becoming more important than ever.

Let me explain you why choosing a creative banner ad can bring in crazy profits from experience and show you a real Facebook Ads stats I have tested;

Creative Images Bring Higher CTR’s

Getting higher CTR (click through rate) on your creatives will increase your chance of finding a profitable campaign (unless your landing page is totally unrelated to your banners).

Without getting into further explanation of the importance of using/finding creative images, let me share a Facebook Ads campaign I’ve tested recently.

I’ve created 90 images for this campaign, and tested all 90 in a separate ad group. Titles and descriptions of these ads were exactly the same. After each ad has received between 1000 to 2000 impressions, I have paused the campaigns to find my winner images.

32 images out of 90 didn’t get even 1 click. The winner image has received almost 0.3% CTR (which is not bad at all for Facebook Ads). The funny part is, I never thought this image would be the winner.

Below is the stats of top clicked ads:

Never Settle with What YOU Think is Good

If I wanted to test the offer pretty quick, and picked one image, I’d have paused this campaign and move on. The reason is; The image which I thought would bring the highest CTR, didn’t receive a click.

So, instead of making an assumption, I have tested the offer with real audience and had enough data to make a decision.

Keep Testing to Increase Your Profit

Whether it’s Facebook Ads, media buying or any type of banner advertising you are running, the simple recipe to successful online marketing campaigns is testing.

Don’t settle with the winner image, keep the top 10% (20 or 30%) and remove the ones without sufficient CTR’s, and keep adding new, creative and fresh images.

How Much $ to Spend on Testing a New Campaign?

This is a question I get asked all the time. It all depends on your budget. If I have a feeling that the campaign has potential, I test up to 10 times of the payout. So, if the payout is $30, I spend usually up to $300 for the initial test. Depending on the campaign, this number can go up or down. So, set your test budget (2x, 3x, etc.) and start testing.

To be able to succeed in online marketing, you have to adopt this mindset, and keep testing every single variable (banner, ad copy, display url, etc.) during the life of the campaign.

I have a good friend whom I met when I rented my first office in NYC over 4 years ago. His name is Boris.

It was during September 2005, and I was renting my first office to launch my ecommerce business. Boris had an office in the same floor, and he was also launching his local service business at that time.

Both being entrepreneurs, and owners of 2 startups in the same building, we have become friends right away.

Boris was a very smart guy with great potential. He was probably the best sales person I have ever seen in my life.

One day, while we were having lunch in Dumbo, New York, near our offices, he’s overheard a conversation between two gentlemen who were also having lunch at the next table, and Boris found a way to join the conversation without interrupting them.

Within 30 minutes, he has sold a big ticket contract to these people. It is hard to explain, but when Boris started talking, you didn’t have a chance to say no to what he sold. He looked and talked trustworthy, friendly, and he was pretty persuasive.

He was so good at sales, he could pretty much sell anything. That’s the main reason his business started growing pretty fast.

Boris had another skill; networking. He pretty much knew every key contact in New York City. Whenever I needed a contact, it was enough to ask him. He could find the best electrician, customs broker, accountant in the city. He had a great network of business people.

While I was becoming close friends with Boris, I had realized something. He had a huge bottleneck in his business mindset which was going to keep him from becoming one of the most successful businessman in the future.

He was too perfectionist, and he wanted to do everything by himself. Even though he had usually one employee helping him, he was the guy trying to do everything by himself, and also burning out himself with all the unnecessary details.

Boris kept growing his business, and launched an import export company. Don’t get me wrong, he is still very successful compared to many entrepreneurs I’ve met. But he is wasting his huge potential by still trying to do everything by himself. And as a friend, I still tell Boris, he needs to start trusting people and create a team.

Left Brain vs Right Brain Mindset Approach

I won’t get into the details of how important it is to create a team and bore you with my tips. Instead, I will show you how I approach this in my own business.

It is all about the specific tasks. Is it a task that require to use your left brain or right brain? If you can answer this question, it is easy to come up with a plan.

Most business owners ask this question to themselves:

Should I hire somebody for this task, or Should I do it myself?

1. Create a business process flow chart

You can google some examples if you are not familiar with drawing a business process flow chart. Then use a free service like flowchart.com or even photoshop to create the business process flow chart.

2. Mark each step in the flow chart as L or R

For each step, I add a letter L or R. L means left brain, R means right brain.

Let’s say I’m building a network of product review sites. Choosing a niche would be the first main step. I’d mark this step as R. Because choosing a niche is the most important part of this project, and it needs experience and knowhow. It’s not something I can teach somebody in a few minutes. But uploading a wordpress would be L. Because I can create a short screencast video and teach one of employees how to upload and setup wordpress.

You see where I’m going from here right?

If you clearly identify the business process steps as L and R, your job becomes much easier to find the right people and manage the project.

3. Time to find people

Since I have clearly identified the steps with L and R. It’s time to find the right people who will be doing the left brain tasks (teachable, kind of easy, more data entry type).

This is the step which shows if you are a good businessman or not. You have options; hiring full time, part-time, outsourcing, crowdsourcing, or even finding a JV partner.

4. Proper Training & Management

When you found the right people for the tasks, it is time to train these people and manage them.

5. Working less hours for more success

Now, I have a team of people (full time, outsourced, part time, etc.) well trained, and working on the tasks simultaneously, like the workers in a factory assembly line. As the business owner, I can focus on managing the team, motivating them, planning for scaling, and enjoy working less hours for more success.

This is so important in business, I will also write some case studies about creating a team soon.

6. Taking it to the next level

Find team members for the right brain tasks. Yes, you need experienced people, and they cost more. But finding the people for the right brain tasks will take your business to the next level.

While you are coming up with the ideas, your right brain people will help you with decision making and managing your team. This is the only way to grow fast without losing control.

Whether you run a small local business, an internet marketing company or an affiliate marketing business, if you try to do everything yourself, you won’t achieve the ultimate success you deserve with your potential.

It is time to adopt this mindset, create your team, and turn the 4 hour workweek myth into a reality.

I have written a post about Facebook Ads Workplace Targeting recently, and the post explained how you can create targeted, profitable campaigns on Facebook Ads by using the workplace targeting feature.

Today, I will share a successful Facebook Campaign which is doing a great job on workplace targeting, in this specific case, college/school targeting.

Targeting College Students & Alumni on Facebook

While I was browsing on Facebook, I saw this ad on the right, targeting my school.

The ad said “Powered by Blockbuster”. And it was enough reason for me to click and check the landing page.

When I was taken to the site, it was a brilliant, customized landing page with my school name, Texas Tech University on it.

Check out the screenshot of the landing page below:

http://www.biggameroncampus.com/ was the URL of the website for this campaign.

When you visit the homepage of http://www.biggameroncampus.com/, below is what you see (no mention of school name):

Facebook Ad Copy + Landing Page Customization = Success

Pictures tell it all, detailed explanation is not needed, but I will still explain why this is so powerful, because there are people new to internet marketing who read my blog.

The most powerful technique when using specific targeting in Facebook Ads is both ad copy customization and landing page customization.

In this specific case study, Blockbuster had a targeted ad copy with a title of “Hey Texas Tech Alums”, which was enough to grab my attention. And, when I was taken to the landing page, instead of seeing a generic one for everybody, I was shown a specific landing page for Texas Tech.

This type of customization creates profitable campaigns on Facebook, or turns your losing campaigns into profitable ones.

If I were the person who created this campaign, I would take it one step further, and create a set of images for each school. Instead of using a generic image, using images of people wearing the specific school’s jerseys would definitely grab more attention. Of course, it takes more work, but this way, the campaign would be a laser targeted one.

How to Create Laser Targeted Facebook Ads?

If you are new to Facebook Ads, and never ran a campaign before, you have to learn the basics first. Please checkout my Facebook Ads 101 Guide and learn the basics before creating your first Facebook Ad.

If you like to try a campaign similar to what Blockbuster did, you need to learn these 2 steps:

1. Creating Targeted Ad Copies

You need to create a custom ad for each school. Also, you can multiply that by targeting, current students, and alumni, etc. Even though you can do this manually, it is so much time consuming to create ads for thousands of schools.

I personally use a tool (Firefox Plugin) called Facebook Ads Manager to automate this whole process. This is a $200 plugin (one time payment, lifetime free updates), and it’s well worth every penny I’ve spent. Because I can create thousands of Facebook Ads within minutes. It lets you split test your ad with every possible combination.

If you want to create a laser targeted Facebook Ad with split testing, you need to automate the process.

2. Creating Custom Landing Pages

The easiest way of creating custom landing pages is using “Dynamic Keyword Insertion” on your landing page.

I won’t get into details of using dynamic keyword insertion, because I’ve found a great step by step tutorial on how to use dynamic keyword insertion.

Check that tutorial out, and shoot your questions below if you have any, I’ll be happy to help.

Facebook College Targeting is Powerful

By using the workplace targeting section in Facebook Ads, I have shown you a case study of how a school targeted Facebook Campaign is built and run.

Laser targeting your audience in Facebook is the key to profitable campaigns. Now, it’s time to get to work and create those targeted campaigns.

If you have any questions about the process, feel free to ask below at the comments, I’ll try my best to answer all the questions.

Related Posts:

• The Power of Workplace Targeting in Facebook Ads
• A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
• Who Has The Biggest Brain? Best Facebook Application
• PPV Affiliate Marketing Guide
• Optimization for High Commercial Value Keywords

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PPV is probably the most popular word lately on affiliate marketing forums and blogs.

Everybody is talking about PPV and how profitable this traffic source is.

I have heard about the word PPV first time in my life, almost 1,5 years ago from a good friend, and a very smart online marketer, and I’ve started testing the PPV traffic little over a year ago.

Since the secret about this traffic source is already out, I’ve decided to share my tips about PPV Traffic. Let’s start with the basics:

Here’s a quick menu to let you jump to the advanced topics if you are already comfortable with the basics:


PPV Marketing Guide Index

• What is PPV?
• What are the Popular PPV Networks
• Affiliate Networks
• What Should I Promote with PPV Advertising?
• Cost of PPV Traffic
• How to Start with PPV
• Direct Linking vs Creating Landing Pages
• Keyword & URL Research
• Understanding Your Customer Demographic
• PPV Optimization & Campaign Monitoring
• Tools & Further Learning Resources for PPV Marketing
• Articles and Resources about PPV Advertising

What is PPV (Pay Per View)?

PPV (Pay Per View) or CPV (Cost Per View) is a traffic source created by Adware Traffic.

Adware traffic is often confused by Spyware traffic. Even though they might sound similar, Adware Traffic is 100% legal and used by millions of people around the world.

PPV (Pay Per View) means you will be charged every time your landing page is viewed by a visitor who has the Adware installed on his/her computer. Visitors see your landing page as a pop up, pop under, or a full page bridge. Since PPV pop up isn’t treated as a regular pop-up, it doesn’t get blocked by most pop up blockers.

When a user who has the adware installed on his/her computer takes a specific action within their browser, such as visiting a URL or visiting Google and typing a word to search, a new browser opens up with your landing page in it. Whether this user browses your page, stays on it, clicks on a link, or simply closes it, you get charged for each view when your landing page is loaded and viewed by the users.

If you are direct linking an offer, your cookie is dropped to the user’s computer.
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What Are the Most Popular PPV Advertising Networks?

• Trafficvance

This is the first network I’ve started testing little over year ago. Traffic quality is pretty good, never had a complain about the quality.

• MediaTraffic

I’ve tested some offers with MediaTraffic. I’ve met Basil from MT during the affiliate summit in NYC. He was a great guy and I’m planning to spend some serious cash on MT during 2010.

• Adon Network

I have an account with Adon, but didn’t start testing anything yet.

These three PPV Networks are usually most recommended. But there are many other networks you can test PPV with. You can check PPV Playbook’s 10 PPV Network Post to find more about other available networks.
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Which Affiliate Networks Can I Use with PPV Traffic

Whether it is PPV traffic, or any other type of traffic, you have to check with your affiliate managers you work with. PPV traffic is getting accepted by most affiliate networks right now.

Some affiliate networks such as Neverblue have special links (downloadable software link) to use for PPV Campaigns, and for some networks, you need to use the contextual link. Again, check with your affiliate manager for the correct link.

My all time 2 favorite affiliate networks are Azoogle and Neverblue. They both have great affiliate managers who are ready to help you get started.

As far as I know, CJ and Clickbank are some of the networks which don’t like direct linking from PPV traffic. Again, you have to check with your network and make sure they accept PPV traffic (if you are direct linking).
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What Should I Promote with PPV Advertising?

PPV is a relatively cheap traffic source compared to many paid traffic sources. It doesn’t convert like Google Adwords, but if you are smart, you can come up with very profitable campaign ideas.

Before deciding what to promote, you have to clearly understand that PPV marketing works different than PPC marketing. When you are marketing with PPC traffic, people are usually in the buy mood. But with PPV, you have to interrupt the user, and convince them to check your offer out.

Understanding the concept of Facebook Targeting will really help with the PPV marketing mindset. Because targeting a specific customer demographic is one of the most popular ways of targeting in PPV.

After you are clear with the targeting options for PPV traffic, it would be a good time to decide what to promote.

Here’s a little secret. If you know how to target and create the correct list of targeting keywords & URL’s, you can profit on pretty much any type of offers on PPV.

Some people say biz opp converts well, other affiliates say short lead gens only, and some say they bank with CPS.

It totally depends on how you promote it. An offer could be the biggest loser if you direct link, but turns great profit if you create a great landing page. Trying some creative and unique LP’s on PPV really helps.

You have to learn the browser size of the pop-up window for each PPV Ad Network. They all have different sizes. Especially, if you are creating a landing page, you have to design with the pop-up browser size in mind.
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How Much Does PPV Traffic Cost?

In most networks minimum PPV cost starts around 1cent to 1.5 cent per view. Even though you can find PPV networks offering cheaper views/clicks, this is an industry average.

While Trafficvance views start at 1 penny/view, MediaTraffic charges 1.5 pennies/view, these are the minimum bids.

Even though everybody talks about less than penny for each view, you have to test and see yourself the cost of views for different niches. I have personally seen bids on some targets for up to $4.00. Yes, you’ve heard it right, a page view for 4 sweet dollars.

Below is a current screenshot from my Trafficvance account, and the time period is little over one year. My average cost per impression is $0.0293. Little less than 3 cents per view, not bad at all.

In PPC marketing, EPC (Earnings per click) is what matters, and in PPV marketing, EPV (Earnings per view) is important. My overall EPV for the time period of this screenshot is over 10 cents. So, it’s not bad at all.


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How to Start with PPV

Open an account with one of the PPV networks, then install the Adware of that network to one of your spare computers. Start browsing, visiting different sites, searching for keywords, and take a close look at the pop-up windows.

This is simply the best way to start.

See what competition is doing, try to understand the mindset of an Adware user by being one.

After you do enough research about the competition, pick your first offer. Don’t think narrow on this. You can promote your own blog, ecommerce site, or even create an email list. You don’t have to direct link to an affiliate offer.

Think creative, and make up your mind for the first campaign you are going to run.
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Direct Linking vs Creating Landing Pages

Since you know what you will be promoting, it is time to make a decision on direct linking vs creating a landing page. I’d recommend testing both.

But, internet marketers are usually not very patient and we want to start testing right away. That’s fine, start testing a direct linking if you like, then think about creative landing page ideas.
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Keyword & URL Research

This is the key to success in PPV marketing. You can have the most creative landing page in the world, but you won’t turn a profit if you target wrong URL’s & keywords.

When you create a campaign at your PPV Network, you need to enter targets. These targets are both URL’s and keywords. Some networks let you enter queries, etc.

Let’s say you’ve entered a target google.com , this means if somebody types google.com on their browser, your ad will pop up, and you will be charged for the view. So, you have to be very smart and careful about creating your target list.

Most affiliates recommend bidding on URL’s only, and not using keywords. Even though I’ve found some profitable keywords, I also agree that targeted URL’s are better for PPV Marketing.

You have two options when creating a URL list. First option is manual. You simply visit Google, Yahoo, MSN and start searching and copy pasting the result URL’s into an excel sheet. This might work when you are new, just starting to test, and don’t have high budgets.

But if you want to create profitable campaigns with huge keyword lists, you have to automate the process.

There are two tools I highly recommend to automate the target creation process. The first one is AffPortal which has a number of tools to automate your PPV Marketing process including a URL generator. AffPortal is a monthly membership system which costs $37/month. The second tool is Laser URL from Matt Harward. This is also a great tool, and it is absolutely free. What beats that?

Whether you create the targets manually by searching Google, or use a tool, your target list is the key to profits in PPV. More targets you test, higher chance that you will find some gems.

Even though this is time consuming, I’d highly recommend a manual check for target URL’s created by automated tools. This will keep you from wasting your money on untargeted URL’s.
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Understanding Your Customer Demographic

You cannot be successful in internet marketing unless you understand your potential customers.

Start with Quantcast and do an in depth research about your potential customers. Visit related websites to your offer and try to understand the browsing habits of your potential customers.

When doing customer demographic research for PPV Marketing, you have to keep in mind the “Buying Mood” of customers. Remember, you are interrupting them from what they are doing. Your offer needs to be convincing to pull their attention.

Think about your offer and interruption relation. If your potential customer is watching a related video, and she sees your pop-up, would she change her focus from the video to your landing page? If your answer is yes, add that video URL to your target list, if it is no, don’t bother, it will just cost you money.

I have found my most profitable targets by thinking about the buying mood of my potential customer demographic. There are billions of URL’s to target, be wise and and understand the needs of your customer demographic before running a PPV Campaign.
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PPV Optimization & Campaign Monitoring

I use Prosper202 to track and optimize my campaigns. This is a self hosted, open source and free solution from 202 Team. They also have a great affiliate network called Revolution 202 which I highly recommend.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any all-in-one solution to manage PPV Campaigns. You have to do the optimization process manually or find a way to automate it.

If you can’t get a custom solution programmed to manage your campaigns, you can use iMacros (free firefox add-on) to automate the bid optimization process to some extent.

Increasing attention to PPV marketing has also created a terrific business idea to offer an all-in-one solution for PPV Management similar to PPC Management tools. Any entrepreneurs out there who want to take the task?
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Tools & Further Learning Resources for PPV Marketing

Some people are self learners. I personally like to test new things to learn after checking a few resources.

But for some, having a guide, training video or an ebook is much more productive.

I have gathered a list of available PPV training courses and tools available in the market. Even though these resources have pretty good feedback, I haven’t used any of them other than AffPortal. So, check them out yourself and see if they will help you to get started faster.

• AffPortal – $4.95 for 7 day trial and $37/month after that.
• Mass PPV Traffic – $77.00
• PPV Riches – $47.00
• URL Keywordz – $47.00

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Articles and Resources about PPV Affiliate Marketing

When I first started testing PPV traffic, there weren’t any resources about getting started. It wasn’t like starting with Google Adwords, but nowadays, more people are talking about PPV and more bloggers are blogging about it.

I’ve gathered a list below, and I hope it will help to get some further understanding of PPV Traffic Source. If you have good blog post, video and article recommendations, please add them to the comments below, and I’ll be happy to review and add them to this list.

• Ian Fernando has a good tip about using coupons with PPV traffic, and a video explaining what PPV is:
• Justin Dupre has created a 2 part guide for PPV marketing. Checkout the PPV Walkthrough Part 1 & Part 2.
• Bryn Youngblut has a good post about PPV Advertising.
• PPV Playbook is a $47 eBook, but also has a free blog about PPV. It has a good PPV Case Study you should definitely check out.
• Inside Affiliate has some good posts about PPV, and here is a good 2 part guide; Marketing CPA Offers with PPV Part 1 & Part 2
• Ad Hustler writes about PPV, and has a case study of a PPV campaign which he’s lost $14.05.

Conclusion

If you are in the internet marketing business, you have to be on top of all the latest trends. PPV is one of many popular traffic sources currently.

If you haven’t tested this traffic source yet, now would be a great time to start testing.

If you are already experienced with PPV, please share your experiences and tips in the comments below.

Related Posts:

• Facebook Ads College Targeting Case Study
• How to Setup a PPV Campaign with Prosper202
• The Power of Workplace Targeting in Facebook Ads
• Optimization for High Commercial Value Keywords
• What is CPA Arbitrage ?

]]> http://www.kirtok.com/ppv-affiliate-marketing-guide/feed/ 3 http://www.kirtok.com/ppv-affiliate-marketing-guide/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AhmetKirtokBlog/~3/8jfxBnbWVNY/ http://www.kirtok.com/the-4-hour-workweek/#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:20:01 +0000 kirtok http://www.kirtok.com/?p=791

When Timothy Ferriss wrote The 4-Hour Workweek, it wasn’t a big surprise to me that the book had become the #1 New York Times Bestseller, #1 Wall Street Journal Bestseller, and #1 BusinessWeek Bestseller.

In my opinion, the huge success behind this book was the title. Title promised a result most readers were looking for and it was the smart marketing move by Timothy Ferriss.

Every single day, hundreds of new internet marketing courses, ebooks, and trainings are becoming available to people who want to start living the dream life of an internet marketer. They all sell on the promise of the 4-hour workweek.

Whether you want to learn affiliate marketing, achieve passive income by SEO, or excel in any type of internet marketing, get ready to hear the hurtful truth;

The 4 Hour Workweek Promise is a Huge Lie

Most people think internet marketing is the dream job where we work whenever we want, wherever we want. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

I agree, making money online has some invaluable advantages over a regular 9 to 5 job. It is very flexible compared to a regular job and it is rewarding as hell when you succeed.

But, being successful in internet marketing needs a certain type of mindset, and it’s definitely not the 4 hour workweek mindset when you are just starting.

Are You Ready for the 80 Hour Workweek?

Probably, you have recognized the picture of a very happy guy on the hammock by the beach. This is a classic picture used on many make money online websites.

Let’s start with erasing this picture in your mind, and using a more realistic one:



Instead of having fun on a tropical island beach, this is where you will be spending your days and nights for a long time. So, get ready to a 80 hour workweek.

I have met so many people who were so eager to start making money online, but failed working enough to achieve their dreams. You know yourself better than anybody around you, if you are lazy and you are not ready to make some serious changes in your lifestyle, online marketing is not for you.

Especially if you are new to the game, you have to forget about the 4 hour workweek, and get ready to the idea that you will work more than anybody around you.

But, when you start understanding the internet marketing, getting more experienced by the day, it doesn’t hurt to start adapting the 4 Hour Workweek Mindset.

How to Achieve the True 4 Hour Workweek Mindset

1. Adopt the Correct Business Mindset

Whether it’s internet marketing or any business you are getting into, you have to have the correct mindset to be able to succeed. Don’t let excuses to be the barrier to your success. Keep your focus on creating a business, and dream about your long term goals, but always setup short term goals.

2. Focus on Increasing Your Productivity

Sometimes the bottlenecks to keep you from achieving ultimate productivity are easily fixable. Find the bottlenecks, and constraints that keep you from being productive and fix them no matter what. Here’s an example of how I have increased my productivity by fixing 2 bottlenecks in my workflow.

3. Always Use the Pareto Principle

The Pareto Principle (80-20 Rule) is the key to working less for the same amount of tangible & intangible success. Never waste your time on small, unnecessary details and never miss the big picture.

4. Create a Team & Learn to Trust Them

Many people who make money online are smart and perfectionist. Creating team is not that hard. Whether you outsource or hire full time employees, you can find the right people to work for you. But, trusting your team, giving them some serious responsibilities, and rewarding them for the achievements is the hardest part for an entrepreneur. If your team of employees feel that you trust them, they will take more responsibilities, and help you achieve your goals faster.

5. Automation is the Key to Passive & Long Term Income

When you start excelling the ins and outs of internet marketing, your goal should be focusing on creating automation. For every new project opportunity, find ways to automate the business processes to achieve the long term success. Find and use the right tools and software to implement automation in your business, such as the best project management software. When you start analyzing the possible projects from the automation perspective, you will get close to reaching the 4-Hour Workweek mindset.

Today is the day to make a decision. Whether keep dreaming about the 4-hour workweek on a tropical island beach, or keep it real and start working the 80 hour workweek, and learn how to adopt the 4 hour workweek mindset to take your internet business to the next level.

Related Posts:

• How to Achieve Success by Creating a Team
• Affiliate Marketing Success
• 10 Tips to Get Started with Affiliate Marketing
• 5 Reasons You Fail To Make Money Online
• How I Quadrupled My Productivity in 30 Days

]]> http://www.kirtok.com/the-4-hour-workweek/feed/ 8 http://www.kirtok.com/the-4-hour-workweek/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AhmetKirtokBlog/~3/POspIDE2njk/ http://www.kirtok.com/marketing-benefits-vs-features/#comments Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:26:38 +0000 kirtok http://www.kirtok.com/?p=1054

Whether you are selling a diet pill, an LCD TV or an eBook, listing the features of the product will not help with your sales. Your customers don’t want to hear about the features, they want to hear about the benefits. So, tell them exactly “what’s in it for them”.

When planning an online marketing campaign, many marketers still forget about the importance of benefits over features. As a marketer, your job is to sell the benefits of the product on both your ad copy and sales copy.

This is easier to be said than done. Here’s a 3 step recipe to fully understand and implement the important marketing technique; Selling Benefits over Features.

Marketing Benefits vs Features – 3 Step Plan

1. Understand Your Customer Demographics

You have to start with learning more about your customer. Start with gathering the basic demographic data. Quantcast would be a good start point. Try to learn as much as you can about your customers such as age group, household income, sex, newspapers they read, TV Shows they watch, etc.

When you have enough demographic data about your potential customers, you have to gather psychographic data such as behavioral style, fears they have, passions, value system, primary hot button, etc.

Gathering psychographic data about your customers is more difficult than gathering demographic data. You have to really understand how your customers think and act. This is the exact place you will use your skills, and experience as a marketer.

2. Think Like Your Customer

You have to look at your product and marketing plan from your customer’s point of view. You cannot be emotional and not see the potential cons of your products. This is where surveys, and workshops with a small group of potential customers would help tremendously.

The key is to put yourself in your potential customer’s shoes, and ask yourself; “Why would I consider buying this product?”

3. Market the Potential Results

Customers want to hear about the benefits, this is true. But what are the benefits lead to?

Results.

To be able to create right on target marketing messages, you have to take the results approach. You need to tell your prospective customers the exact results they will get from your product.

When shaping your marketing campaign, focus on “features vs results” mindset instead of “features vs benefits”.

Whether you market pain or pleasure, your customer wants to know what the results of your product will be.

Don’t confuse your customers with detailed features, instead let them know the results straight.

Related Posts:

• Optimization for High Commercial Value Keywords
• When to Say NO to Unethical Customers
• Increase New & Returning Customers to Your Store via Email Marketing
• Advertise at Online Local Directories to Increase Retail Foot Traffic
• Generate Foot Traffic to Your Retail Store via Google Local Ads

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