Keep Visitors Coming Back

A lot of successful websites depend on returning visitors to account for a major part of their traffic. Returning visitors are easier to convert into paying customers because the more often they return to a site, the more trust they have in that site. The credibility issue just melts away. Hence, keep your visitors coming back to your site with the following methods:

1) Start a forum, chatroom or shoutbox

When you start a forum, chatroom or shoutbox, you are providing your visitors a place to voice their opinions and interact with their peers -- all of them are visitors of your site. As conversations build up, a sense of community will also follow and your visitors will come back to your site almost religiously every day.

2) Start a web log (blog)

Keep an online journal, or more commonly known as a blog, on your site and keep it updated with latest news about yourself. Human beings are curious creatures and they will keep their eyes glued to the monitor if you post fresh news frequently. You will also build up your credibility as you are proving to them that there is also a real life person behind the website.

3) Carry out polls or surveys

Polls and surveys are other forms of interaction that you should definitely consider adding to your site. They provide a quick way for visitors to voice their opinions and to get involved in your website. Be sure to publish polls or surveys that are strongly relevant to the target market of your website to keep them interested to find out about the results.

4) Hold puzzles, quizzes and games

Just imagine how many office workers procrastinate at work every day, and you will be able to gauge how many people will keep visiting your site if you provide a very interesting or addicting way of entertainment. You can also hold competitions to award the high score winner to keep people trying continuously to earn the prize.

5) Update frequently with fresh content

Update your site frequently with fresh content so that every time your visitors come back, they will have something to read on your site. This is the most widely known and most effective method of attracting returning visitors, but this is also the least carried out one because of the laziness of webmasters. No one will want to browse a site that looks the same over ten years, so keep your site updated with fresh bites!

READ MORE - Keep Visitors Coming Back

Be realistic when selling on eBay....

Be realistic when selling on eBay....  - As some of you know, I spent many years buying and selling both on and offline and several of my products are based upon my own experience in this area. I know that the vast majority of my customers and subscribers have an interest in trading whether it be on eBay or at the local market but more and more I am seeing people with completely unrealistic expectations of what they will be able to do. Most commonly these unrealistic expectations are in respect of how much it actually costs to purchase specific products and what they can then be sold on for. 

I regularly get emails from people who want to know where they can purchase products such as mobile (cell) phones, new release DVDs, Playstation games and similar at, say, a 50% discount to resell on eBay. The fact is that such a thing is not available - it is a simple case of supply and demand and competition.

Take DVDs for example, most people think that these are excellent products to resell on eBay because they are very popular, not particularly expensive and easy to package and ship. Unfortunately, they could not be more wrong. The DVD market is one of the most competitive that there is - take a look for yourself and see how many auctions there are on eBay for DVDs at any one time. I have just looked and counted almost 300,000! At any one time there will only be a certain number of buyers wanting to purchase a particular DVD and if you take into account the numerous different places there are that each buyer could purchase from, it is likely that in general, there will be more copies of an individual DVD available than there are buyers to purchase them. This situation causes prices to fall. The other factor that forces prices down is the fact that one DVD is the same as another. By this I mean that from a buyers point of view, there is no difference to a new DVD purchased on eBay to one which is purchased from their local DVD store. Often the only way to differentiate is on price and of course, the only way to make the price more attractive to a buyer is to lower it.

The above reasons help to explain why the wholesale discount on a new release DVD is just £1 or £2 at most ($2 or $3 roughly in the US). When you take into account the fact that the large retail chains can purchase thousands of DVDs at a time and receive a bigger discount than individual traders, you soon see why it is very difficult for a small business to compete in such a competitive industry. You simply cannot purchase new release DVDs at 50% discount and even if you could, it wouldn't be long before prices were forced down as there is always someone willing to sell a little bit cheaper than the next man.

It isn't just DVDs that fall into this category. Take mobile (cell) phones. Here in the UK you can walk down just about any high street and get the latest phones either free or for a minimal token payment. The stores are relying on making their money from the line rental contract that you will have to sign in order to get the phone. Of course, the actual cost of the phone is not free - most new mobiles are actually worth £200 or £300 which means that if you want to buy a batch of phones at wholesale, you are going to be looking at a pretty high unit cost. As with most electrical products, the market is competitive and prices have been forced down which means that the difference between your wholesale buying price and your retail selling price is minimal. 

There are numerous products that suffer from the same market conditions as DVDs and phones and new/small traders really should avoid trying to sell such items at all costs because it will usually be frustrating and ultimately not financially rewarding. When trying to decide what products to sell, you need to be thinking about the type of market that a particular product is sold in. If there are already numerous sellers and many large companies selling at considerable discounts this is far from ideal. The exception to the rule is if you are able to add value in some way to make your 'offering' more unique. I wrote about adding value last year in one of my newsletters - you can read it here: http://www.thetraderonline.com/jul2204.html

At the end of the day, it is all about research, being realistic and having an understanding of the market that you want to operate in. Whilst it would be great to be able to buy and sell new release DVDs (or whatever) all day long, doubling your money every time, I am afraid that this is just not going to happen.

READ MORE - Be realistic when selling on eBay....

A Website Model That Makes Money

A Website Model That Makes Money - I would like to share with you one simple stratergy in creating income with your own website. This is just one method out of simply millions that you could create for yourself. Remember the internet provides no limits. This is one example that does work for me, and may give you an insight into exactly a website model, that you may like to put into action for yourself. Affiliate marketing and/or sales of any kind on the internet, requires a real commitment, as I am sure you do already realize. The internet is really one of the greatest training grounds in the world for sales. You can try and fail many times, until you find that system and approach that will work for you. But the commitment that you show in meeting this challenge, will be a lesson that you will always remember. Success is always achieved in no matter what you do, through simple hard work. There is no easy path to success, but when you achieve the success you are after, there is no greater feeling. So lets begin. In this example my website, which for the purposes of this article i will call '????'. I will give you the exact profit breakdowns. 

With this website I treat all my affiliate products as purely residual income, much like adsense. Adsense itself generates for me, on this website, on average around $2 per day. I also use various other companies affiliate products, which generate around $200 per month. Also within the website, I sell e-book informational products, which I own the full resale rights for, which generate around $700 per month. And here lies the answer to making money online, no matter what you sell. The products, that generate the most income, are the ones that you will own yourself. Certainly I should be making more from the affiliate info products that I sell. But I lose commissions through simple affiliate url tampering. Commissions that are stolen or lost are a real pain. You can try every method in the book to protect your affiliate codes. But after all the hard work is done, you still lose that valuable income. The people who sell the original affiliate product know this, which is mostly why a high percentage of the sales price is offered to an affiliate to begin with. Because they realize that a very high ratio of sales made on their products will give them the total profit back. The reasons why people change affiliate product codes etc, could run into pages. Lets just say it is inevitable. This is the reason why I treat all my affiliate based products as purely residual income. 

But as you can see in this example clearly where the highest return on investment lies. And that is in the products that you actually own. You can purchase resale rights for info products easily, and it involves not much money at all, most products are available for under $50. Or if you have the time and patience to search the internet. You can find amazing e-books that have free resell rights and the information they contain is really valuable. You will find these types of treasures occasionally, and the lights will start flashing in your eyes when you do. The information that you have just discovered is of value and that is a real key to success. This is why I, at this point, strongly emphasize the importance of this one principle. Only sell products that you feel strongly about and you know that will be of great value to the person who may purchase it. That includes products you have bought the resale rights for, or a free product, you have discovered with resale rights. 

If you sell strong products with real informational value consistently you will always succeed. Your customers will return, quite simply because they know where the value of the information they seek is the greatest. And that is at your website. Always remember to put yourself into your visitors shoes. Ask yourself the question? Would you buy the products you are selling? Answer this question with a Yes. And you will be really on the start too online success.

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At Home Internet Jobs, Who Said It Was Easy?

At Home Internet Jobs, Who Said It Was Easy? -I’m sure you’ve heard it all before, build a website and people will come. But if you’ve built a money-making website, that’s not what you want to hear. After all, you picked one of these at home internet jobs, because you want to be financially independent and your own boss.

Here’s one alternative from the many home internet jobs you’ve surely read on the net. Join an affiliate or partnership or referral program. Study these three alternatives, to help you maximize your profit streams.

1. Exclusive retailer. 

There are many online malls; they offer a comprehensive range of products and services. Concentrate on supplying the needs of a narrower market segment. You’ll be unique and sought out. 

2. Join the more profitable affiliate program. 

Although there are literally hundreds you can join, take your time. Read the FAQ section. Check out their products. If the products and services they offer are ones you look for, there’s a good chance that you’ll earn as an affiliate. 

Other factors you may want to think about. Are the commissions high enough, that you’ll turn a profit? Remember you’ll need to set up your own website, and secure advertising money. Choose to join an affiliate program whose products are mid range and will sell it self with little effort. 

3. Create a website that focuses on your passion. 

Although the focus is on the range of products that the affiliate program has, that’s not the only thing you offer. Give advice that is contextual to the products. Maybe you could write about the history of the products, or the processes involved in manufacturers. You could write about the celebrities who use this. Build a website that’s full of contents that your customers can use to better their lives. You’ll win their trust. They’ll soon become your most loyal customers. 

Here’s one home internet job opportunity you may not have thought of. It’s a profitable and excellent venue to a steady stream of profits.

Be an online retailer of e-books with the reseller or reprint rights. Here’s one of the many ways you can do it. Offer a one time entry fee for the subscriber, it can be $20.00 a year or life time subscription fee. The subscriber will have the right to download any e-book from in your library. Some of the more successful business models target niche markets. You can be a retailer of e-books that specialize on the recipes of different countries. Wouldn’t that be fun? You can commission e-books or buy from known e-book authors. Read the e-books to be sure you’re selling the real deal.

What are the benefits you received from reading that e-Book you just purchased? Right an article or review explaining the benefits and then get that article or review published and placed in front of the eyes of your best prospects.

Be a dropper shipper and establish your storefront at EBay or the competitor Yahoo auctions. EBay’s traffic alone runs to approximately 800,000 visitors daily. It’s the worlds’ best online auction, and you wont’ go wrong. 

Now what’s a dropshipping business? It’s a business model where you put products on a website or through EBay. You take the orders they come and pass these on to the dropship supplier, who ships this to your buyers. 

Another way of putting it is, you’re the middleman, and you take the orders via Paypal, credit card or fax. 

All the home internet jobs here will net you profit. All you need is a computer, internet access and basic knowledge about your pc and the net.

READ MORE - At Home Internet Jobs, Who Said It Was Easy?

Article on the timing of events with Site Build It

Article on the timing of events with Site Build It - Firstly let me say that I think Site Build It, it rocks. When I started on this journey, that I am still on, I started reading everything about mail marketing, web marketing etc etc. I had already been ripped off with the developers of my first site so I was not going to let that happen again. But then I was shown SBI and I have not looked back. 

However, there are ways that you can make you use of SBI better, not by using something else, not by not reading the manual, which you should do about 5 times. (The devil is in the detail!!), but if this is your first site then you can maximize your SBI investment with timing. Why, well when you start you are probably going to go through stages, reading the manual, research, writing, reading, putting up pages, adding links etc etc, it is at this stage, prior to monitorising your site that timing is everything to maximize what site build it does for you and what you can do for yourself FREE. Here is the timing. 

• Buy site build it and stop reading any other web marketing stuff 
• Read the manual 
• Re-read the manual 
• Do the Brain thing 
• Document everything 
• Write loads of copy 
• Start putting the copy up 
• When you get to 40 pages 
• Become a Zealot (See Hints and Tips at Site Central) 
• Start doing the mini hum thing 
• Ask for a DMOZ listing 
• Write some articles and send them off 
• Apply for Google Adesense 
• Get as many links as you can 
• Then Monitorise your site with Google 
• Then add your newsletter stuff 
• Then add your affiliate links. 
• Now read all the other SBI products (keep re-reading the manual) 

OK, OK now you are asking why that order. Well a lot of it is covered in the manual so a lot of it I will just glance over, but the middle bit I will dwell on. Now I am supposing you want the best results for the cheapest price – right. 

OK If you are new to this you probably either want to put up loads of content or a sales page. If you read the manual you will see the content must come first, content, content and more content. 

Now I presume you have bought your site, you have done the brainstorm thing and got everything in hand, you have loads of content. OK now you have built the site to about 30 to 40 pages, make sure they are spell check, linked and look good. 

Now go off and become a Zealot. Details are on the tip and hint’s site build it site. Just go to the site and do the quiz, if you fail do it again, if you fail read the answers and keep going until you pass, one you do then put forward you site. 

Now why do things in this order, because as soon as you have put up any adds or a few links to affiliates the webmasters they deem you as a commercial website and say you have to pay. If you have no ads etc, then you get in if you have a good content site. 

Now do not just put up you main page, put up every page in every section you can. Try doing three pages a day until you start getting the replies back saying you have been accepted. 

Now do the same things with DMOZ 

(News just in – Value Exchange started Excellent – I got an email prior to Ken's Newsletter so I went straight in and so far I have got three ‘good’ links) 

Now build your E-bay page and link to your site from that – see details in MYNAS at Site Central Hints and Tip’s 

Now apply for Google Adsense, follow the instructions at site build it. Again if you do this in this order you will avoid not getting onto Adsense because you are already advertising one of their clients. Just one of the things that can fail you. 

OK now go for the mini hubs that are also in the tips and hints. 

OK, now that has probably taken a bit of time and during that time Site Build It, your new links and other work have probably now got you up in the Alexa rankings, now is time to add your Newsletter forms, your Google Adsense code and start the work on the affiliates site. 

I hope that this helps, as the man said ‘It’s all in the timing’.

READ MORE - Article on the timing of events with Site Build It

Redesign Them and Explode Your Sales!

Popup Ads - Redesign Them and Explode Your Sales!  - Most people put popup ads and Spam in the same category; they genuinely don't believe in their effectiveness. 

However, marketing statistics show that popup ads are powerful marketing tools that can significantly increase your sales and subscribers to your opt-in list or newsletter. On the flip side, popup ads are the third most hated entity on the Internet, behind Spam and adware. This is because most popup ads are the rude interrupting variety that traps the user into an unending loop. 

It is possible to produce Popups that provide relevant information to users in a non-intrusive way. You just need to be sure that you are providing relevant information to the visitors to your site (information that they are already actively looking for. 

If you are using conventional popup ads on your site, you may have noticed oh, in the last year or so...that your opt in list has been continually declining. You can attribute this decline to the advent of the popup blocker. Just in case you're not familiar with pop-up blockers, here's the short summary…over the past year, a lot companies, even the major ISP's (Internet Service Providers) such as AOL, Google and Yahoo have been releasing software designed to block pop-ups, so that anyone who has the software installed can control how many pop-ups they see from what website or even block them totally. In lots of cases, the average Internet user doesn't even know that they have a popup blocker installed on their toolbar. 

There is new technology available now that lets you create a new type of popup ad. This ad is an animated floating ads that look and behave like pop-ups but are essentially a part of the main web page, so popup blockers can't stop them. 

Unlike conventional popups, which open new browser windows, these ads are part of your web page. 

Using this new technology, you can: 

1. Conduct polls and surveys to can get useful feedback from your visitors/aid your marketing efforts 
2. Capture email addresses from visitors by offering them free information 
3. Use your thank you pages to introduce your visitors to your other products. Since they are already in a buying mood, there is a pretty good chance that they will be receptive. 
4. Add "tips of the day" and change them every so often to generate interest. 

As a smart internet marketer, I'm sure you know that by capturing the visitor's email address, and then following up with them via an effective auto-responder campaign, you can more than double your chances of closing the sale. By using the new popup ads, you can do exactly that!

READ MORE - Redesign Them and Explode Your Sales!

Ten Tips on How To Write A Sales Letter

The main reason why 95% of online businesses fail is because of poor sales letter. Write your sales letter with an Individual in mind; think as if you are writing personally to them. People love to read good stories, tell them stories that illustrate a point you are trying to make.

1.Heading.

Write attention grabbing & powerful heading. Remember you have 15 seconds or less to capture your visitors attention before they click away. Offer the best benefits or the biggest promise to your visitors. Increase there curiosity by showing them self-serving benefits. Your heading should immediately create a desire in the reader to want to know more.

2. Testimonials

One of the biggest problem on the internet is being believed. Testimonials are the best way to assure people that you are not a scam artist. People want to know what others are saying about the product. In fact a good testimonial from respected well-known authorities within your targeted field will definitely build your credibility & boost sales. Try to include a testimonial as close to the top of your sales letter as you will get people immediately believing what you say even before they read your sales letter.

3. Build Interest.

Build interest in your reader by discussing a problem or telling a story. The first part of your sales letter should build interest in your readers and try to expand the benefits you got people excited about in your headings. People love to read stories, so tell them some exciting story of your past experience, but remember the story should be within your targeted field.

4. Bullets.

Bullets are one of the most powerful persuader in sales letter. People spend a lot of time reading bulleted list. Bullets arose the curiosity of your visitor, so use them to stress the benefits of your products or services and spell out exactly what’s included in your offer. Make you bullets like a mini heading. Use them to narrate the benefits of your products in a step-by-step way.

5. Comparison.

To prove that your product or services is of a great value you need to show them what you are offering is much better them your competitors. Show them that others are charging much more for a less quality product then yours. Explain them that they are getting a better deal by ordering from you. This way you can prove your products or services are of a great value.

6. Bonuses

Make your offer different & valuable by adding some good products as bonuses. Don’t give away outdated junk as a bonus it will damage the credibility of your main product. Your bonuses should be as good as they can sell on their own. Remember sometimes people buy the main product just because of the bonuses.

7. Guarantee.

If you have a good product then there is no need to worry about offering a strong guarantee. Make your guarantee look like a personal promise. Try to convince your visitors that they have nothing to loose all the burden is on you to deliver what you promised.

8. Demand Immediate Action

Include a deadline to create a sense of urgency in the mind of your customer. Nobody wants to make a decision, so let your customer know that they will be missing out on a great deal if they don’t act now.

9. What to do next?

Don’t make your customer guess what you want them to do next. Tell them clearly that “ Click here” to order or get immediate access. Make this process as simple & understanding as you can.

10. P.S.

P.S. is very important part of your sales letter as most of your site visitors will immediately scroll down to the end of your page to find out how much it would cost.

A P.S. is a best place to summarize your product or services as visitor checking your price will also have a detailed description of what they will get if they order now. 

READ MORE - Ten Tips on How To Write A Sales Letter

8 Tips to Get Publishers to Notice You

If your articles aren't getting published very often, or you just want to increase the chances of them being published, then you will benefit from the tips in this article.

1. Article Length

You should always keep you article 500 to 800 words long. If you can't fit what you want to say into that amount of space, then break your article up into more than one part.

2. Resource Box Length

When writing your resource box, keep it 5 to 6 lines long. In a resource box you are simply trying to get people to request more information, not sell them something. If you want a longer ad, buy one!

3. Line Length

The lines in both your article and your resource box should be formatted to 60 to 65 characters per line. One of the consequences of not doing so is that, in some email programs, your article may appear with every line at a different length.

4. Is Your Article Actually An Article?

Publishers want to provide their readers with actually useful information and you should want the same. If you write an article that is just a sales letter or press release it will be rejected 99 percent of the time.

5. Inactive Links

Before you even think about publishing or submitting your article check that all links within it are active and working. Nothing is more irritating than to click on a link for a site you're interested in only to find out that it no longer exists.

6. Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar

If you submit your article and it's full of errors it will be thrown into the trash folder so fast that your head will spin. Submitting articles with these types of errors not only makes you look extremely unprofessional, but it shows disrespect for both the publisher and their readers.

7. S*AM Triggers

As a courtesy, you should run your article through a program that will check it for triggers that could possibly get it rejected by filters. This isn't a necessary step but it will definitely impress publishers and increase the chances of your article being published.

8. Publisher Guidelines

This should be understood without having to say it, but it is still important enough to mention. Always, always, always follow the publisher's guidelines when submitting an article to them. Not doing so will get your article rejected quicker than anything else.

Read this list, print it out, and keep it by you when you are writing an article. Read each tip and make sure that you are following it.

Making the above mistakes will insult the intelligence of both the publishers and their readers, as well as wasting your time and theirs. 

READ MORE - 8 Tips to Get Publishers to Notice You

1 Mistake Most Blogs Do

As much as this might surprise most bloggers, the #1 mistake most blogs are doing is not publishing their content via e-mail, as a supplement to their RSS feeds.

Just think about it: while RSS is growing strong, it still only penetrates about 5-6% of the American online population. Furthermore, according to a recent BlogAds survey, "only 12 percent of the blog reading audience said it used RSS always or often".

If you're delivering your blog content only via RSS, you're missing out on about 80% or more of potential regular readership/followship.

THE KEY BLOG PROBLEM

There are millions of blogs already, but really few people have the time to watch more than a few daily. But if they come back just once a week, they can be quickly overwhelmed with the amount of new content.

That's why it's crucial to provide a "best of", a helping hand to guide your readers to the "must-read" content you publish … and delivering this content either as a standalone “blog-zine” or as part of your regular e-mail newsletter.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

Deliver your blog posts as they are written via RSS, but then also publish a regular (weekly or monthly) e-mail e-zine with your "top blog posts" for those that are still not in to RSS.

Don't do just one channel, do both.

E-mail is still the #1 end-user content delivery channel ... whether we like it or not. Using e-mail (as a supplement to RSS) to deliver our content is just good business practice, at least for now.

COMPARING BLOGS, E-ZINES, E-MAIL AND RSS

If you’re reading this article and thinking that blogs are actually “beyond e-mail”, just consider the following reality.

RSS and e-mail are content delivery channels; the tools that enable us to deliver our content to end-users. Blogs and e-zines on the other hand are two different internet media content formats, differing in how/what content is provided and presented through them.

RSS/e-mail and blogs/e-zines cannot be directly compared. Blog content and e-zine content can both be delivered via RSS and e-mail, and there is no direct business/logical relation between, for example, blogs and RSS.

Blogs are "personal" conversations, opinions and news, delivered in a linear structure, usually written in a more personal style, and confined to a limited number of content types.

E-zines on the other hand are more similar to magazines or newspapers, carrying content presented in a complex non-linear content structure, and having the ability to carry many different content types that do not mix well together if provided through a linear content structure.

A typical e-zine might include:

• - an editorial;
• - a leading article, representing the prevailing topic of a specific e-zine issue;
• - supporting articles, clearly structured to show they are secondary to the leading article;
• - links to "best of" blog posts in the given timeframe;
• - links to the most relevant forum topics and posts;
• - a news section;
• - a featured client case study;
• - different advertisements (banner ads, textual ads, advertorials etc.);
• - a featured consultant;
• - a Q&A section;
• - a featured whitepaper;
• - etc.

Providing all of this content demands a complex content structure and a strong and experienced editor. The blog format simply does not provide the level of structure needed to effectively present such a complex content mix.

But that's not to say that blogs are in any way inferior to e-zines, they're just different. And businesses need both, and they need to deliver both via RSS and e-mail.

Personal preferences towards content delivery channels and internet content media formats have no place in business. What matters is what our audiences want and how they want it. 

READ MORE - 1 Mistake Most Blogs Do