My Internet Marketing Articles Blog

The Search for Ways to Make Money from Home.

2010-05-22T18:14:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't wish to be able to make money at home through either a home business or simply by finding ways to make money on the computer? And not only find ways to make money but be able to do it without having gone through some 4 to 8 years of some computer or marketing course to be able to achieve it.

I know that I'm someone who wishes to find those ways which is why I'm now writing articles and looking for other free ways to market affiliate products on the net. I am also looking for ways to make a blog that can bring in hundreds of dollars a month. It is a learning process and I'm starting that journey now.

With this blog I will present products and programs that may help someone make that money from home we all would like. I will also keep everyone up to date on whether the blog itself is making me money since it is a bit of an experiment itself. I'm following a program that is giving me step by step instructions on how to do this so it will be interesting to see if it works.

The blog is now live but has only been for a few days. I have all ready added some thingamajigs but no money yet. I'll see what I learn from this as can you. Just check out my blog at Ways to Make Money from Home to see for yourself.

Some Keys to Article Marketing

2009-01-13T19:20:00.000-08:00

Being an online marketer can be tough if one doesn't know the ropes. There are different ways to advertise a home business or online opportunity but there is no question that article writing is both the easiest and cheapest way to market your business. This form of online marketing is free and can become addictive. Not only because it becomes a way make money but it becomes fun. Yes, article marketing once you get the hang of it can become fun.

There are a few keys to doing this. One would be the keywords of the article you write. Another would be the content and finally the good old resource box. This one is the true key to your article marketing success.

The article must include keywords so that the search engines can pick up your article for higher ratings. These keywords should be words that will attract a target audience to your article. If for instance you are trying to sell skin care products with your resource box you would try to get words or phrases like "skin care","chapped" or "skin lotion" in your article body to get the search engines to bring up your article when the folks looking for skin lotion punch in those words. Keywords should also be in your resource box but use the product or program itself since that is where you will be making your main pitch. Direct promoting usually isn't looked upon favorably by editors of article sites. You may get shot down for it.

The content of the article is also key to making it a marketing success. Pointing towards what you are selling in your resource box is something you want to do. You have to do it in a subtle way though. Again if you really start talking about skin care products as part of the article and point towards your product you will probably be shot down by the editors of the site where you are trying to get your article published. Instead talk about general skin care. Talk about or write about I should say general hygiene that a person should practice to have better results with their skin. Then when the article is completed the resource box is waiting at the bottom.

And so we come to that resource box. This is the money maker. This is the place where you make your product or program pitch. Again use keywords here as you do in your article body. Use different ones though. Here you would use the actual product or program you are trying to promote. You can use up to 2 URLs here so use links that will take people to your site be it affiliate site or even a site that tells about your product or program and then has the affiliate links.

Article marketing is both fun and free and is by consensus the best way to market a program or product on the internet. By using the right keywords in the right way, putting proper content towards what you are selling without doing it directly and using your resource box for your main pitch with your product keywords you should have the success you desire.

Free advertising. That is what article marketing is. And it can be a fun and easy way to advertise also. Especially when the profits start coming in.

Ways to Market an Online Business For Free

2009-01-13T19:19:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for an online opportunity you will most likely have to market it in some form. Unless it is a passive vehicle in which you basically just sit back and watch the returns come in you will be promoting it one way or another. Since start up costs can be rough in some opportunities people wish to find free ways to advertise. Well here are a few.

1. Article writing-Yep. You are looking at it. Article writing is not only free but very effective in marketing an opportunity. If someone has an internet home business, article writing or marketing will not only spread the word about your program in the resource box but it will give you something that marketing experts consider even more important. The good old internet presence. Get your name on enough articles and you may become fairly well known over time. Articles are like small blogs. They are shorter in content but do contain links to your offer. And you can put alot of them all over the net in a short time. And of course they are free to write. Yummy!

2. Blogging-Alot like article writing but here you have an entire site to put on the net. There are many good places to make a blog. Two of my favorites are Squidoo.com and blogger.com. The HTML is very easy in these which is important for the newer marketer or computer novice. The thing here is to again write about your program or offer and put that baby all over the net through social bookmarking sites and also on search engines. Use good keywords for this. Actually use good keywords for article writing also. When people start searching for an opportunity like the one you offer they will put keywords into their search and if you have the right ones on your site your blog may come up in their search. Your site may then be viewed by someone and whammo, you may get a sign up or order for your opportunity. Blogs are good for affiliate marketing also. Just put the links into the blog and you are marketing for free.

3. Forum Posting- This is one that I love. Not only is it free but you may make some great connections also. I personally have made some wonderful friends on forums and they were free to make just like all of the best things in life. Forum posting to advertise your opportunity can be powerful. You can put your links in your signature after joining a forum and start posting. Make sure to join forums aimed at money making opportunities. You want to target your audience and this is a great way to do it. You may even be able to start your own thread or teambuild. That could be a real boost to your marketing desires. But again it is free and a great way to advertise.

So there are 3 ways to advertise online for free. By writing articles, blogging and posting on forums you can get the word out about your program or product offer for free. The article writing does take a little getting used to but once you learn the ropes and rules that certain sites have about writing them you will see that it is not only a great way to advertise but also free and fun. Blogging gives you more freedom and a chance to really pitch your offer. And it is free again. And finally forum posting is not just free but can make you connections that can go beyond marketing.

Free marketing online. For someone with a shoestring budget or someone who has had a lot of start up costs in their opportunity it can be a great way to market. And the price is just perfect.

Free advertising

Team Building Keys In Having an Internet Home Business

2009-01-13T19:17:00.000-08:00

So now you have started an internet home business. You now need to build your downline if you are in an MLM or even a teambuild on a forum. To build an effective team you need to be able to do some things effectively. One is trust. You have to build a trust with the people on your team. Another would be communication.This is not just you and your team but the team communicating with each other also. And training if necessary. This can speed up the success rate of a team in a program in a big way.

Trust. This starts right at the beginning. When you bring a new member into your organization you have to show them you are there to help them any way you can. By helping them with their questions whether you know the answers or not you show them that you will go that extra mile to help them. They will want to be part of a team where the person at the top shows they are there to help.

Communication. This kind of goes with trust but communicating also counts for strategies that the team may employ together to bring new members in. Some teams even have rules especially on forums where teambuilds are prevalent. You can have central conference calls for your team also. And of course for training communication is a must. I mean how can someone train someone else without communicating with them. Which leads to...

Training. By training someone or for that matter a group of people one will be speeding up the profit process for themselves and their team. Working as a team includes using similar promoting tactics. Conference or training calls can also be employed for this. When everyone is promoting a program from a point of strength which means using strong promoting tactics the entire team will succeed. They then can bring more people in at a faster rate which in turn will make the team and income grow. This will also make your team more engaged and excited when they see the income growing. Friendships can also come out of succeeding together though I have found out from personal experience that friendships can blossom from going through tough times also.

So through trust, communicating and training one can build a team that can succeed in an online program or for that matter an offline one. Teams consist of people. Building relationships through these steps will give one success in marketing and maybe in life itself.

Some Keys to Having a Successful MLM Program

2008-12-30T14:56:00.000-08:00

The internet home business lure is an easy one to fall for. Who wouldn't like to stay home away from the rat race and those wonderful traffic jams. Those jams that can make one late for dinner and keep one out in the cold on those cold winter days and nights. The idea of staying home to make money is quick becoming the new dream of the 21st century.

The main way this is happening is with MLM or network marketing programs on the net. The success of marketing these programs is what will decide whether that dream becomes a reality. Here are a few keys to being successful in marketing an MLM program on the net.

One would be a program with manageable start up costs. Another would be a good or if possible great payplan. Finally, one must have a downline in the program that can add more to it. The last one can really be a boon in making the home business dream a reality.

The start up cost could decide how long someone stays in a program and builds it. If the costs become too much at the start a person may quit due to losing too much. On the other hand a low start up cost could give someone enough time to learn more about marketing itself and be able to build their dream business.

The pay plan especially in an MLM will do 2 things: 1. It will make the program more marketable. People looking for their own home business will be more inclined to join a program with an appealing pay plan. It will also give the person trying to start a home business make a quick profit or at least stay afloat in the beginning. So many who have tried to start an internet home business have quit because of the hole they wind up in. A strong pay plan can help balance that in the beginning.

Once a person starts an MLM program as a home business and begins to build a downline that downline must also be able to build further down. Here is where it can all come together. A marketable program and a program with a strong pay plan will become more marketable for someone's downline also. Once the downline begins bringing in members along with the person at the top of the matrix, the income from the program will grow very fast. This is the basis of network marketing. One starts a program, markets it, brings people in, and they market it and bring even more in.

In a nutshell that is what can make an MLM a success for someone looking to have a home business. There are more extensive explanations for making an MLM a successful internet home business but in the end it all comes down to these simple 1. Affordable start up costs. 2. A strong marketable pay plan. 3. A downline that will do some marketing themselves and help one grow theirs.

The dream of being able to stay home and avoid the rat race is one worth trying for. By looking for and finding the right things in an MLM program, one can get to where that dream can come true. It really can.

Keys to Killer Website Rankings

2008-12-30T14:55:00.001-08:00

f anyone wants to start a home business on the internet they will need a website that is going to bring them lots of targeted traffic. There are certain methods of achieving this but the most effective are the right keywords and catchy content for something that people are either going to buy or a program they will be interested in joining. The term SEO Optimization is the phrase used to describe what people are looking for in gaining "targeted traffic" (there's another phrase used) to their site. One of the keys to getting that is indeed keywords. The proper usage of keywords will have a direct impact on how well your page ranks. It will also have a direct impact on the kind of traffic your site gets.

If you are selling hair shampoo you are going to want to use words or phrases like hair, shampoo, dandruff, basically words that people are going to be searching for when they wish to find a certain hair shampoo. Of course if the shampoo is a brand name you would want to use that name as a keyword too. You may even use words or phrases like healthy, shiny, full body, all natural depending on what kind you are trying to sell. It really isn't that difficult to understand. Because if I'm looking for baseball cards what am I going to do a search on? Yep. Baseball cards. There are your starting keywords. You just add other words connected with that. You must now include those words into your text on the page.

Content is another word for that. If your site has a title and which site doesn't you will want to get as many of those keywords into it as possible. Of course you don't want your title to be the size of a paragraph so you can only put a few in. Make sure they are the main ones that will bring people to the site. You also want to put those keywords in the first paragraph that you write on your site. That is something the search engines will gobble up also. The most important thing of all though is what you are either selling or trying to convince people to join. If what you are offering isn't appealing enough you won't get the clicks and sales you wish for. It doesn't matter how great the site looks or how targeted the keywords are. If what you offer isn't something people want it won't matter. You can't sell what you can't sell.

Profound, isn't it? But it really is that simple. Whether it is a program you wish someone to join or a product that isn't appealing it won't matter. If you are doing everything right as far as the SEO optimization part goes and the traffic or sales aren't coming then you might consider trying to sell something else. Making money on the internet with a website comes down to SEO Optimization from keywords and what you are selling. The keywords help get the people to the site and the product, products or program will be what makes you money or gets you frustrated. When you can get the 2 together the right way, you should be on your way to a high ranking website and a nice income online.

Article Marketing - What Works

2008-12-30T14:52:00.000-08:00

I have never been fond of writing. At least I wasn't up until I started writing articles. When I found out I could not only write articles but make money doing it, I really started liking it.

Writing articles is one thing. Writing articles that will get you the attention you desire and get people to click on those links in your resource box is another. Here are a few ways to get people to do just that.

The first thing is to make sure you pick the right category. When you see that drop down or drop up box make sure you are targeting the right audience. If you pick say "blogging" and your article is about autoresponders you will have people looking for blogging information while finding something on autoresponders. It isn't likely you are going to get too many people to read your work.

The next thing is the title. Give folks a title that will get their attention but isn't too long. I haven't put many articles out yet but I've all ready noticed that the titles I've used that are fairly short and to the point do better then longer ones. For some reason numbers and a list in the title seems to help also. Something like: Here are 10 steps to better online marketing". If it is an online marketing audience you are after then this will be an effective title. To be honest, I'm not even sure why yet but it does seem to work.

Another thing and this can be a little tricky at least this is what I've noticed in my short article writing career is to lead people to your resource box without leading them to it. Yeah, tricky. What I mean is write about something indirectly pertaining to what you are trying to sell. If you are selling a product that cleans floors in your resource box then write about the problems of choosing a floor cleaner. Do not however talk directly about the cleaner you are trying to sell. That may get knocked down by the folks who publish the articles for promoting. Keep the information general and you should be ok. And by the way, to be completely honest, I'm actually not doing this with this article. LOL

Something else and this one has a twofold reason for being helpful is not to not make the article too long. For one reason, people tend to have a short attention span even when they are looking for useful information. Now of course this isn't everybody but the majority like to get their information and go or hopefully go to your resource box and start clicking. The other reason is that the shorter the article the more you can put out. Usually somewhere around 5 to 600 words or so should do.

Writing articles can be like putting out little websites with your links to your real websites on them. The websites where you make your money. If you put out say 2 or 3 a week then you are basically putting out 10 to 15 websites out on the net a month. This also will help you with that oh so sought after "internet presence" that all marketers crave.

There are more sophisticated keys to get you some nice results in your article writing career but what I've put here are some of the basics that I have learned about all ready in my short article writing career.

Get the right category, pick a short but enticing title (the numbered list in the title is again a good way to get people to read what you write). Write about what you wish to sell them but not directly. And finally don't make the article too long. You want folks to read all the way through so they get to your resource box. Also by making them say around 5 to 600 words you can write more articles and get more stuff out on the net.

Article writing is probably the best way to promote on the net. It is free, it is fun and hopefully for all of you folks it will become profitable too.

The Perfect Internet Home Business - Is There One?

2008-12-11T16:59:00.000-08:00

Oh that dream. That dream of not having to wake up to some blaring alarm and have to trudge to a place you really don't want to go. A place you go to because you have to not because you want to. You are always looking for some way out but you can't afford it. Or can you?

Ever since the internet came into play people have been logging on looking for the perfect internet home business. A business that they do not have to jump up for in the morning and one that they can run in an hour a day or less if they're lucky enough. A business that will have them using that term "freedom" simply because they will now have it.

But what should one look for in the program or business they would like to have? How much will a person have to put into it? How much time will it take up? How difficult will it be to run? And will they have to promote it and how much?

These are the main questions that people think about when looking for a work at home program or opportunity. People can be looking for different programs because they may have different talents or passions but most simply want out of the rat race. So lets look at the different questions that will come up in the search.

How much should they put into it? If they all ready have money that won't be a problem. However most people don't have alot of startup money and can quickly get themselves in a downward trend especially if they are not experienced internet marketers. This is where many dreams end before they have a chance to start. Low overhead to start can get one off on the right foot.

Another question is how much time will have to be put into making the business or program succeed. Again, here is the marketing angle. Some people will be fine working say 6 to 8 hours a day on a program simply because they just wanted to work from home and leave that rat race. Most people though are looking for that blessed word "freedom". The program or business someone would like to join will have a maximum of 1 to 2 hours a day to work. This can be tricky though because I have found out myself that promoting in certain ways can be fun (such as article writing) and the "work" may not seem anything like it. If that is the case then the person is home free figuratively and literally.

How difficult will it be to run? The old word "passive" comes to mind here. Wouldn't it be just jolly if everything could be passive? Wouldn't it be great if you could just sign up put in your start up money and just watch the money come back in in droves? Yeah it would. It isn't likely though. There are probably programs mostly investment types where you may make some money but they can be very dangerous especially if one doesn't know the ropes. Programs like this can look wonderful, put up dizzying looking percentages and estimates of what one can make one day and be gone the next. Yep. Gone. And with your money.

Most likely the ones where one can succeed will include having to do something. Besides the promoting they may have some kind of administrative work. This is now starting to sound like you are back at the office. Yuck! Most people should look for programs where promoting is necessary but administrative work is minimal. That will cut down on the difficulty of running it right there. And also goes back to the time running aspect.

Then there is something absolutely everyone has to do and that is their Due Diligence. Find out things such as is there a brick and mortar address, is the management of a program or business trustworthy, and do the programs or businesses pay what they have said they would in the past. This is actually the first thing that should be done while at the same time though thinking about the other things.

Freedom from the rat race is a blessed thing if one can achieve it and more people are. The internet and the programs on it are always changing. But by doing Due Diligence and not being afraid to promote these opportunities on can indeed find that end of the rainbow, the end of the rat race and the financial freedom that we all dream of.

A Newbie Program Promoter Asks What Are the Do's and Dont's of Forum Posting?

2008-12-05T19:43:00.000-08:00

One question that I am still looking to answer is what works in internet online forum posting. What helps a program out in promoting it on a forum? Testimonials? Yummy! They have to be good. Who runs the business? Yes, that would be a question that would have to be answered. And what about the group promoting it? Do they seem like people a person would like to join a program in or under? That is at least part of the puzzle. This newbie will see what he can find.

The number one question I have found that people ask on forums is whether they are being paid. There are different angles this can come from. Some will ask "Are they paying on time?". There will be the simple "Have you been paid?". And I have heard "Will they pay in the future?" along with "How much can I make and how fast?".

Obviously a person wants to answer these people honestly. If the program is paying, well there are your scrumptious testimonials. People love to see other happy people on a forum praising a program to high heaven. Of course they may think the promoters are too delighted and that nothing can be that good. I have so far found that to be the minority though. When real people are being paid on time and are happy the program gets quite a boost. The newcomers that are checking it out will be more inclined to at least stick around the thread and keep watching how things progress. Any grumbling or pessimism and the new folks won't stay long.

Another biggie seems to be who is running the program and whether they are trustworthy. You certainly don't want to join a program, put money into it and then shabam! They're gone. They're gone and they're gone with your money. People will ask "Is there a solid structure for the program?". The way it is actually put is "Is it a brick and mortar company?". That is to ask do they have a "physical address?". If there is one that helps alot. It puts more legitimacy to the business. I have seen that fall apart too though. People though do seem to feel more comfortable if there is one. Considering these forums are online and the people are looking for money making opportunities in these places I find it a little curious that this is such a big thing. But I have found it to be something people look for.

The trustworthiness of the management or owner if you will of a program is another thing people will wish to know about. Their track record can be a biggie. Have they run programs in the past that have failed? Have they payed in the past and of course do they have a reputation of closing down a program without telling the members and possibly running away with their money. If the program a person is promoting is run by someone like that then they won't be getting many takers no matter how glowing the testimonials. However, newer people to finding programs to join may not be as concerned with this. It could be that they are new to the jungle of internet money making and don't realize the potential pitfalls of this or they just see the money coming in in their heads and can't think straight.

On the other hand if the owner or manager of a program does seem like someone trustworthy or someone who has a good track record then that will give a boost to the program and the people trying to promote it on the forum. This goes back to testimonials again but this time the testimonial is about the person or people themselves that are running the business. If people coming to a thread about a program see the members comfortable with the ownership of the program that will help also. They will think to themselves "If these people that are just like myself are comfortable with him or her or them then maybe this is a program I can be comfortable in joining."

Another one is the group promoting the program. Not the management of the program but the members on the forums promoting the program. What kind of people do they seem to be. Do they just want you to join up under them so they may get a quick affiliate commission or do they seem like people that are genuinely honest and understanding of a person's concerns when they check a program out? Ramming or trying to ram a program down a person's throat without them knowing alot about it will almost never work. At least it shouldn't.

When someone comes into a thread and starts asking questions it is because they are interested in the program. The members should be as patient with them as they would like someone to be with them. If the program is really as good as the members believe or act like they do then answering questions should not be a problem. The confidence that they show in either answering or trying to answer can go a long way to getting someone to join a program.

There is also a trust that can be built this way. By showing that you will take the time to answer the new person's concerns which may even include off the forum you can show that you can be someone they may wish to work with and yes, sign up under. Yes there can be selling of not only the program but the individuals or teams on the forum. Again, a group willing to help a person can say alot about their confidence in the program

On the other hand , grousing and complaining among the members of the thread trying to promote can keep people from joining a program. It may even keep them from even posting any concerns they have. They may look at the group like the Adams family and decide to not even go near the program. After all, why would people be upset if a program is working out so well? And who would be the one to help you with questions you may have? Finally, do you want to work with or sign up under someone who seems combative or unhappy. People do have concerns always but someone who is always complaining is not someone most people would want to join under. Again, a person wishes to sign under someone they feel they can have a working relationship with.

There are other things people look for like pay plans and when they get paid. There is also how often and sometimes how fast they get paid but when people like myself are trying to promote a program I have seen at least up to this point that the main things that help sell a program are testimonials, trustworthiness and indeed how the people on the forum promoting the program act. A helpful group can really help sell a program. And the main reason they are so helpful is because they believe in it and are not out to screw anyone.

There will always be the phony ones out there but to me they are usually found out when someone needs help understanding something. The phony ones will help out but only to a point since they are more interested in making the buck then caring about the potential new members concerns. They will just move on to the next person or in some cases victim.

Don't get me wrong, we are on the forums promoting our program to make money but we shouldn't lose our soul doing it. If the program is something we believe will help the new people checking it out we should be happy to help them and ourselves at the same time. By doing that both the program and the members can prosper. And of course the new people checking it out.

What Makes a Good Introductory Email?

2008-12-05T19:38:00.000-08:00

It is morning and I go to check my email out. While the mail is coming in and the subject lines go up for the new mail coming in I notice one that states "New RIOY Lead". Well what do you know? I have a new lead. Now the question is how do I try to convince this new lead to come into the party and join us in our program.

I don't want to be pushy but I don't want to be passive either. Ahhh the good old balancing act. And now with the new lead I get to try it.

After letting the new lead know who is contacting them I believe enthusiasm becomes important. I have to let them know why I am in the program and what the advantages are of them joining. I can't just say "Join now and make money!" I certainly can't make it seem like I am desperate to get them to join. I've received emails like that and usually more then one a day when there seemed to be desperation to get me to join. I never join those programs. The pushy salesperson stuff just doesn't work with me. I'm guessing it doesn't work with most other people either.

I want to tell them that the program is great but that joining it is not a matter of life and death. I try to tell them the payplan if there is one but not in a way again that makes them think that I will die if they don't jump in.

Obviously being cordial is important. I talk to them enthusiastically. I welcome them almost as if they are coming into a new family. If they do decide to join then in a way they are. They are joining in a partnership of sorts depending on the program. I don't see how you can do that any other way and be successful. Those emails that are sent out in bulk that are so generic may bring a few people in but I need to show someone that I see them as a person with concerns and probably questions.

Which brings me to asking them if they have questions. I think again with the personal touch addressing potential concerns of a lead is necessary to show them you are interested in not only helping them with their concerns but showing them what a good partner or teammate you can be. You can actually start bringing them into a program doing this. Again though, I don't believe you can be shall I say nervy with this. It is just an email. But it is a "welcome" email not a "your joining whether you like it or not" email.

How can one be nervy? By saying something like "I don't see how you can't want to join this" or "I'd ask you if you have any questions but I'm sure you don't since this is such a no brainer". Believe it or not I've seen such emails. They don't stay in the inbox too long.

One other thing that I do that some people won't simply because they don't have the option is that I will offer testimonials by sending them to forums if they wish. I will either ask them if they would like links to the forums where myself and my team post about the program or I will simply put the links into the welcome email. By asking if they would like links could be a way to get that much hoped for feedback from a lead or potential downline member if you will.

I actually can't take credit for that one though. What happened is that a lead actually did respond to one of my welcome letters and asked for "proof" of what I was claiming. So the best place I though to show them would be our forum threads where the testimonials were flying about our program. I actually was able to get him on one of the forums but he never joined. Obviously that was not the desired result but people join or do not join programs for different reasons.

Because of the fact that people do or do not join a program for different reasons does not make it easy to get that perfect balance of what a great or even good welcome email should include. I have just started my marketing career and as I go as long as I receive leads I will be able to practice what a welcome email should have in it.

I haven't found the perfect balance yet but I do realize that the person receiving it is just that . A person. Not a person who is there to be taken for a ride but a person who may and probably will have concerns and questions about the program I am trying to tell them about and to join. Patience is very important as is a return concern for their concerns. To myself they are people first. And I think for anyone trying to recruit or send out that magic welcome email it should be the same.

My Journey Into Article Writing Or Help, I Need an Internet Presence

2008-11-30T16:40:00.000-08:00

When I began my marketing career I didn't think that writing articles would become a part of my marketing agenda. I've detested writing ever since I can remember. On the other hand the thought of making money from home on the net really appealed to me. I had to find a happy medium not to mention a program to believe in and promote.

Well I found the program so it was time to promote. The first thing was to find free ways to advertise. Because my sponsor in the program was and is a teacher who is now teaching myself and my team online marketing these things weren't hard to find. In fact I didn't have to find any of them. She started pointing to different things between blogs, SEO optimization, forum posting, keywords and now article writing.

Oh this one will be fun. Article writing? I've actually become a pretty good forum poster but article writing is another story. And that's the problem. It basically IS a story! You can't just put down a few words and run. You have to have something to write about and then you have to have knowledge about what you write about. Oh golly gee! How great will this be?

OK. So now I am told how this thing called a "resource box" will become the key to my marketing with articles. Why they call it a resource box I still don't get. When I first saw this thing I thought I would have to or should at least put my computer serial # on it or something. I mean that was the resource I was using to write the article. Wasn't it? Or maybe the keyboard # on the back of the keyboard?

Well obviously that wasn't what it was for. This was where I would put my "pitch" or "plug" for what I was marketing. At least now the reason for writing articles was becoming a little clearer. I could put articles out for free and have free advertising for my program at the same time! That was great but still didn't explain why that box was called resource instead of "pitch box" or something.

Anyway, it was now time to come up with something to write about. This in itself can be a trick. Here I am a newbie marketer trying to write articles about marketing? How am I supposed to do that? Usually people write about things they are expert in. They teach the masses with their dizzying intellect. Me? I couldn't teach a fish how to swim! I couldn't teach a monkey how to climb a tree and I certainly couldn't teach anyone about marketing.

There was only one thing to do. Tell the truth. Let people know I was and am a newbie. I mean I could write about stuff I know something about and truth be told I probably will but I just didn't see how writing about oldies rock and roll or baseball would make sense when at the bottom of the article there was a resource box for a money making program I was pitching. So at least for now marketing was it.

Since I was and am new to marketing I would tell of what I had learned so far and obviously show how far I still have to go. This by the way is my fourth article and they've all been on marketing in one form or another. And yes, the ideas are already becoming harder to find.

I was told that about 2 articles a week would help give me an "internet presence" in time. I have no idea if it will but you don't know if you don't try. I'm not Ernest Hemingway and never will be but if I'm at least honest and tell people reading that this is something brand new to me then maybe I won't make a complete fool of myself.

Oh, back to that resource box. When I wrote my first article I actually put 3 links in the box instead of 2. Ahhhh, the learning curve. There may be places where you can have 3 links in the box but here where I was writing the article they only allow 2. So it gets rejected the first time I submit it. At least it was something easy to fix. It did get published the second time. Yippee! I had a published article.

Another trick was NOT to promote myself or my program if you will. Promote myself? That's classic in itself. Mr. newbie promoting himself? On what? How to put too many links in the resource box? That wouldn't be a problem.

The idea of not promoting the program was trickier though. I thought I had done OK with my second article but it was rejected for that. So hey, it was time for some more learning. How to edit my article so that it met the guidelines which would allow it to be published. This was more of the learning curve but in the long run may help me succeed in this field.

Again, back to that resource box. Now I could and can put my pitch for the program. Keywords are big here. If a person puts the right ones in this box they can get somewhere with the promotion of their program. At least that is what I've heard. Again, I'm new at this. I won't know how true this is probably for a while but that is fine. I'll need more to write about down the road anyway.

Here at the start I don't expect a lot of fanfare if you will. After all, I'm new at this. How many kids jump on a bicycle and start going right away. That's why training wheels were invented. Well, I have mine on firmly right now. The great thing though is that this is a free way to get something out there with my name on it. And when I am finished with it as I just about am now I feel like I've accomplished something. What I'm not sure but I never enjoyed writing. I hated it in school but maybe because I'm so far removed from it that things just aren't the way I used to see them.

Maybe it's because I'm an introvert in my off the net life and it's coming out here in these writings? Hey there's an idea for an article! I can title it "Hello world or An introvert comes out in article writing"!

I actually wrote this in one sitting. One to two hours. That's it. It isn't a masterpiece but it is out there. It is circulating the internet as something that I myself created. Except for that resource box. I have to write that up now. That resource box which I hope will help me in my journey through my online marketing career.

Directory of Marketing Blogs

Can a Newbie Marketer Succeed?

2008-11-30T16:31:00.000-08:00

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Clunk! That was the sound of the alarm clock going off in the morning. That was also the sound of myself turning the alarm off. There usually was another sound after that. Something like this: Bleep! Bleepity Bleep Bleep! Of course they were not happy words. They were words of anguish knowing that I now had another day of drudgery to look forward to at work. Work in a place I no longer had an interest in. Oh there were some people there that I liked but the place and the job just didn't do it for me. Who would want to be woken out of a sound sleep and possibly a wonderful dream to do this? This had to stop.

Luckily the kindly and generous owners of the place I trudged to every workday and sometimes on weekends was willing to help. They decided that making me get out of bed to go to their factory and make them money wasn't fair. So they closed down the place and moved to China. Or Brazil. Or someplace where I couldn't follow.

I was now free to move on. Free to decide what the rest of my life would look like. It isn't that I didn't have this freedom before but when a person gets in a cycle it can be difficult to stop. Even when they don't like it. Now I saw my future. Unsure as I was I did like the idea of not having to go back to that place. I now had the option of not having to listen to that alarm clock in the morning either.

Computers. I bought one about 5 years ago and had surfed all over checking out sites that interested me and that included money making sites. The thought of the home business opportunity made me drool. But I didn't know anything about marketing so I basically tried things that were passive in nature. There did not turn out to be alot of money in that. Either that or I just wasn't finding the right programs.

One good thing about my old job was that I was able to save money. A good amount of it. So much that I have basically been living off of it for about 5 years. But now I was or am to the point where it is time to make some money. So it was time to become an online marketer.

I found a program where things looked passive in the beginning. The program has changed to a more active program for the members now though. This actually fits into the team I am on in this program. My sponsor happens to be a teacher by trade and has shown us methods for marketing the program which also includes 2 companies. What we are now doing is marketing these programs together and separately. So there is plenty of room for practice.

The first thing was to get on the forums and start posting. This wasn't that hard since I had done it before. I have a major shy streak in me though so there was a little hesitation. Things went well though and I even wound up getting my first "lead" in the program from doing it. Just put those affiliate links in your signature, start chirping and you are promoting! Good.

Blogging was next. This I wasn't sure of. I'd made a page once before for something but I couldn't find that page again. Once again came my sponsor to the rescue. She told us about Squidoos. I didn't make one until I saw others doing it. I didn't think mine would be that great and to be fair it wasn't in the beginning. After about a week of figuring the Squidoo page out I made one. OK. Cool. Now I had a blog.

Social Bookmarking sites. I would now start submitting the blog to different sites so more people could see them. The leads were slowly starting to come in. And I mean slowly. But now I had made other blogs on a different site. In fact back to the Squidoos, I wound up liking them so much I made a few that weren't even money related. With more blogs though comes more exposure and more leads.

But the sign ups were where the money is and I still wasn't getting them. I was doing this for money so that had to come for this to work. Finally I did get a sign up! And then a second. So the ice there has finally been broken. In fact, just within the last few days I received my "bonus" of $100.00 in the mail for one of the sign ups. My first commission in online marketing.

The next step which is basically where I am now is article writing. I have heard that article writing can be a powerful tool to get your name out on the internet. And that that again is important to help you succeed in online marketing. It is called an "online presence". For those of you that are experienced marketers you are probably laughing at me now. Boy this dope really is new at this. Well I am. This in fact is my 3rd article. Yep only #3. So if it isn't the greatest thing you've read, at least cut me a little slack. Hey, my first Squidoo wasn't great either but now I have 1 with a 5 star rating and 2 in the top 200 of the SEO category. That is actually pretty good.

This is where I am now. I've added some affiliate sites that I have to some free surf sites (I did that on my own) and am wondering what will be next. The adventure really is just beginning and the questions are still there. Will what i do work? Results have been slow but steadily getting better. The leads have been coming in at a faster rate. Not earth shattering at all but a faster rate. I now have 2 sign ups so the ice there has been broken with hopefully many more to come.

This program is a very good one for me because it is geared to teaching online marketing and as I said before my sponsor is a teacher and is teaching us. I will definitely catalog my progress probably in future articles. After all, I can only write about Squidoos and how I enjoy them so many times. But this is now 3 articles in about a week and a half. And I just wrote this one in one sitting. Too fast? Maybe, but I'm new at it and just like with everything else not only in internet marketing but in life I'll only get better with practice.

I just hope the rest of my marketing results get better too.

Posting on Forums Or How The Little Shy Boy Became a Chatterbox

2008-11-30T16:27:00.000-08:00

I'm a very quiet person off the net. Very quiet. I do not have any friends and am almost never on the phone. I wished to make money on the net however and once I found a program I was enthusiastic about I had to find a way to market it. One of the easiest as it turned out was forum posting. It is as easy as writing articles on the net. You just don't say as much in each post.

The program was certainly one I wanted to get the word out about. This is a program I knew people would like if they heard about it. I also knew very little about internet marketing. What I wished to do of course was something simple to start. I had found out the program from a money making forum. Since it worked to get me into it why wouldn't it work to get others in?

n the beginning I had trouble posting not because I was shy or anything but because I wasn't and still am not to this day that computer literate. I did not know how to make a paragraph with the backoffice buttons that were used in the "add reply" area. I did finally figure it out though through trial and error. I also began posting because the program was under attack by another group in that forum that was terrified that we were going to take the internet away from them or something.

My first post in that forum for my new program was actually a "fight back" post. Ironically it was the 1,000th post in that thread. I had posted in that forum maybe 6 or 7 times in 2 1/2 yrs. Little did I know what I had now started.

I belong to a team of people in this program who also do their marketing of it partly by posting on forums. In the beginning of my forum experience with this program new people were coming in fast. They began posting too. As time went by I began posting more and more. As with anything else I became better at it the more I did it. I was also noticing what a great form of advertising this was. Just by putting affiliate links or even blog links into my signature I was advertising. My first lead in the program came from forum posting. And my 2nd actual sign up into one of the programs the main one was promoting came directly from this.

There is another great advantage to forum posting though and that is visibility. When you promote a program on a forum you are making yourself visible to people who are looking for programs like yours. In these money making forums when people or in this case prospects see you telling about and giving testimonials about your program you become accessible to them. This can be a very strong selling point to get them to come in under you. Communication is one of the biggest things a prospect will look for in a potential upline or sponsor. And its hard to be more accessible then being on a forum where people see you all the time.

I am not talkative in person but what has happened on these forums has become a metamorphoses of sorts. It really can get a person going. You may have to do a little quibbling now and then but as long as you are not personal with someone you should be ok. To be fair, I myself cannot say I have always been that way. When my team or program gets attacked in any way I get lets say very defensive of it and especially them.

Forums are also a great place to make connections some of which can be very rewarding. We had a problem with our program and you could say their was a bit of an upheaval. One of the programs my main program was involved with was just becoming too burdensome in their marketing restrictions. After finding out about this our team was a bit unraveled. There was now another program coming in its place which would be easier to market and I say will be much more profitable in a shorter time but a few on my team were off balance. To be fair that next day I was a little shall we say punchy myself.

But what happened that day because of being on the forums was that I believe we became closer. Closer then I ever though I get to people on the internet. Interestingly enough I the one who was never a leader in the real world was the one keeping our team together and positive. I even made them laugh a little. But what was happening was that we were finding things out as the day went on and helping each other. I believe that we were a team before but because of that day of uncertainty we became a TEAM. A real team. I no longer have any doubt that we will succeed in the program.

They are great for marketing but sometimes forums do even more. They can make you friends for life. Friends you never thought you would find looking to make money. And strangely enough that makes you richer then any amount of money ever will.

Forums are a great free place to market your business. If you have an internet business you wish to promote you can have no easier path then forums. People with a home business or who wish to work at home will find forums very convenient for promoting. Especially if you are like me. I am basically an infant in internet marketing but forums are no longer a problem. Neither is (ahem) article writing. Oh I'm not saying I'm great at it but I can do it and for free.

So check those forums out that shout about money making and working at home. You may not only find an opportunity that you like but you may find you have more to say then you think. And of course you may make some wonderful new friends.

Squidoos Anyone? Or How I Learned to Make My First Blog and Now Can't Stop

2008-11-30T15:50:00.000-08:00

I had never even though I could make one. I'd seen other people with theirs but it was something too complicated for me. After all, I'm not even that computer literate. I have problems with HTML and couldn't even set up a decent paragraph. In fact, to this day I have trouble with making paragraphs in emails.

Well I joined a program in which it seemed the other members were jumping on this bandwagon and making these blogs called Squidoos. I had checked the main page out and had seen their work. I only became discouraged thinking I could never make a page like that. I finally though knew I had to at least give it a try. Everyone else on the team was promoting the program I was in which was a program called RIOY.

So I started. First was the set up page for the url, title, and category that it would be put in. That was actually rather simple.

Next was the main editing page. On this page in the upper right hand corner is a place for you to put your signature. This is basically an autobiography of what you will tell people about yourself. You can also put a picture of yourself or something else. I chose something else. After all, the idea of a Squidoo is to get people to look at it not drive them from it.

Also, below that is a place where you can add keywords. Usually the main keywords are in the title however there are many others you can add. This is actually an important step. If you hit on the right words or phrases you can get some nice Google page rankings which of course will add to the exposure your or in this case my Squidoo would get.

Then there are the modules. That is what they call them anyway. I have no idea why but ok. These are really cool. There are writing modules, modules where you can put YouTube videos in, and modules where you can have polls if you wish. There are more then that but the thing is and this is really neat: You can move them around. You can except for the introductory module at the top move them up or down. Placing parts of the blog in the order you want is something I find really nice. That way when you add a new article or entry, you can move the older ones down under the new one. That is how I do it anyway.

Writing. Ever since my school days I have detested writing. Now however I did not have a choice. My team was writing. They were making Squidoos. They were getting leads for the program. If I didn't do something I would be left behind. I would feel as if I wasn't doing enough. I would be scorned. Well not really, they are actually very sweet people but nevertheless I had to do it and so I would.

There was one problem though was again that I was not and am still not that computer literate. I did not know HTML at all. I needed to find a site where this was explained. Well I did a good old Google and I found one. One that explained HTML, and also showed examples of it. So I wrote. I was making paragraphs. And goodness gracious I even learned how to put links in the thing!

What is really great is that you can see the product and edit it before it goes live. In fact you can edit it at anytime. I know it's too late but to make a long story short, I did it. I was able to get it made and because of the set up it actually came out rather well ok.

I now have 5 Squidoos including an RIOY, Maxegen, and LHN Squidoos. I've even made a few that have nothing to do with money making.

When I started with these it took me a week to make the first. I could now make one a night if I wanted. I had seen in the beginning when I started that some were ranking very high in the Squidoo universe. I never though mine would get anywhere near the top. There are over 500,000 Squidoos out there and I would have been happy to have broken the top 50,000. Well, I just made my Maxegen Squidoo about 2 weeks ago. It is now in the top 100 in its category and the top 6,000 overall. My RIOY one is also in the top 150 of that category. That is dizzying. To not only see them out there but to see them rank like that is stunning.

My marketing career is in it's infancy. I've only been at it for 3 months but now the leads are coming in and the sign ups cannot be far behind. These Squidoos are addictive. But I would have not known about them if it weren't for one person.

She is an inspiration to me. She is a wonderful giving person who became (no, not my wife) my sponsor in the RIOY program. Her name is Laura Licata. She has pulled things out of me that I didn't think I had in me. I won't get gushy here but I will say that I will love her the rest of my life. After all, she led me to Squidoos!

So there is my first article. That's right. She has me writing articles now! And who knows, I may start to like this too.

Writing. I hate it and yet I'm looking at the word counter here and I'm over 900 words. Who knows. I may even start writing books. Well maybe not books. But article writing? Why not. After all, I learned how to make and love Squidoos.