Good for you! Your dream of becoming a webmaster is finally coming true.

Your site is up and running, easy on the eyes, and has a decent amount of content on it. The site is monetized and you’ve seen a steady increase in traffic since the [...]]]>

All that work for nothing?

You’ve:

• picked a niche
• made a site
• written content
• drive traffic
• monetized

Good for you! Your dream of becoming a webmaster is finally coming true.

Your site is up and running, easy on the eyes, and has a decent amount of content on it. The site is monetized and you’ve seen a steady increase in traffic since the site was created, however long ago.

You’ve done everything right, but something is wrong; you’re not making any money!

To understand why, let’s take a closer look.

The components of internet marketing are all connected to one another. Think of the website creation process as a pyramid: At the bottom is picking a niche and at the top is making money from the site. Every piece of the pyramid needs to build on the base, until the whole thing becomes concentrated in a single point.

For us, that is when the customer willingly pulls out his wallet.

Build a solid foundation for your site

For those of you on a shoe-string budget, doing it all yourselves, you’re going to have to learn how to build your pyramid the hard way. If you’re site isn’t making any money, you’ve got a problem with something in the foundation of the pyramid.

• It could be your topic itself. Are people paying for products and services in your niche?
• It could be the layout of the site. Is your site aesthetically appealing enough for visitors to return VOLUNTARILY on a daily basis?
• Or, it could be the content. Are you coming across as an authority or just out to make a quick buck?
• Or it could be the traffic. Are your only visitors Googlebots, or are you also attracting targeted traffic?

When all of these values are set correctly, turning your site into a money making machine will be much easier than trying to wing it.

Its for this reason that monetizing your site should be the last step in the creation process. After you’ve got the right amount of traffic and content on your site, feel free to focus on making money.

Hopefully, you’ve chosen a niche you’re passionate about. When you’re trying to figure out the best monetization strategy for your site, do some research about the most common strategies for that niche. Once you’ve checked out the competition, implement some of their strategies.

A fool is a man who has never tried an experiment

However, keep in mind that making money from your site is NOT a “set it and forget it”. If you’re smart, you’ll do testing to see what works best for you.

For instance, if you went the lazy route and started with your basic Google Adsense ads and they’re not working for you, the try switching to another format. Try in-text ads, or promote some affiliate products.

Don’t be afraid to change things around on your site. However, make sure you’re also allowing the ads/product links to get enough exposure before you replace them.

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: sales is a numbers game. You’ll have good days and bad days.

Selling on the internet is no different. Give your strategy enough time to fail before you prematurely pull the plug.

Once your site starts generating some income, guess what its time to do?

Build another site! Yay!

Why You Still Aren’t Making Money From Your Niche Sites originally appeared on VIP Internet Marketing on November 11, 2009.

There are two keys to creating interesting stuff:

On the surface, this may seem obvious. In fact, most great nuggets of wisdom appear “obvious” or as common sense when you think about them. These suggestions are no exception.

So, now you want to [...]]]>

Get the most bang for your buck

There are two keys to creating interesting stuff:

1. Write for your audience
2. Write with enthusiasm

On the surface, this may seem obvious. In fact, most great nuggets of wisdom appear “obvious” or as common sense when you think about them. These suggestions are no exception.

So, now you want to know how to write for your audience? First, you need to discover who your audience is.

If you’re selling a product or service on the internet, for example, your audience would be prospects who have an interest IN THE BENEFITS which your product or service can provide.

Get to the heart of the matter

To demonstrate, let’s say for example that your niche is do-it-yourself internet marketing. In this situation, your audience would be people who are interested IN THE BENEFITS of DIY internet marketing, such as financial mobility and a supplemental income.

Keep this information in mind when writing your content and your readers will feel more engaged, causing them to return to your site on a regular basis.

The second key is to write with enthusiasm. If you’re doing videos or podcasts, then record with enthusiasm.

Those who are in sales know that 80% of making a sale is a transfer of enthusiasm. That’s why you see such intensely designed sales letters these days; the writers are trying to convey an almost FRANTIC feeling of enthusiasm about the product.

Anyone who’s been in sales knows that in order to sell something, you need to be sold on it yourself first. You need to truly believe that your message is worth listening to.

Once you cross that threshold, selling, writing, or ANYTHING for that matter turns from a bothersome chore to an enjoyable hobby.

It’ll help you get chicks too

Another benefit of writing with enthusiasm is that it’ll fast track you to becoming an authority!

People will look at you and say, “Wow, he sure is excited about X. He must know a lot about it.”

Enthusiasm is attractive to everyone, not only buyers, and you can never have enough of it.

Fatten Up Your Content With These Juicy Writing Tips originally appeared on VIP Internet Marketing on November 10, 2009.

That question is the center of a raging debate in the internet marketing community right now. Common [...]]]>

Get paid to eat lunch

The internet is a big place with a lot of free information. So why should anybody give you any of their hard earned money for some crappy ebook that you slapped together in 20 minutes?

That question is the center of a raging debate in the internet marketing community right now. Common sense suggests that people won’t pay for what they can get for free.

After all, would you pay for a special search tool when you can use Google for free? Probably not, and Google is the best there is.

However, one thing to keep in mind when designing a strategy for your online business is that the MAJORITY of promotional techniques can be done by YOU, the entrepreneur, for zero cost.

It doesn’t cost you anything to write an article or upload a video.

No free lunch

Well, I take that back. It will cost you time, but if you’re like me and have much more time than money, that’s obviously not a problem.

So if all this information is out there for free, then how did $82 billion worth of stuff get sold on the internet in 2009?

Now, before you answer this question, keep in mind that MOST people don’t have the wealth of knowledge about the mechanics of the web as you have.

As an internet marketer, by trade you’re more knowledgeable about the inner workings of the web than your average consumer, who may not know how to properly use a search engine.

Try brunch

Anyway, in order to have a balanced strategy, you should release info products both for free and for sale. Give away the free ones in exchange for subscribing to updates about your site.

This simple trick nets you qualified prospects which you can market to at a later date. Also remember to stuff your info product with links to any affiliate products which you promote AS WELL AS a link to your own website on each page.

If you’re offering good info, where do you think your readers are going to go when they finish reading? Right back to you. And you never know, maybe this time they’ll buy something.

Can You Make More Money By Giving Your Info Product Away Than By Selling It? originally appeared on VIP Internet Marketing on November 7, 2009.

Eat the chocolate

Here you are, an internet marketing newbie, trying to make money online. But you’re stuck!

With so many decisions to make about your new business, you’re too overwhelmed to make a decision.

Well, I wish I could say you’re in good company here, but the truth is you’re not. You’re still at [...]]]>

Eat the chocolate

Here you are, an internet marketing newbie, trying to make money online. But you’re stuck!

With so many decisions to make about your new business, you’re too overwhelmed to make a decision.

Well, I wish I could say you’re in good company here, but the truth is you’re not. You’re still at square one with all the other newbs who cry because they can’t decide how to work on their site.

Let me make it easy for you: PICK SOMETHING AND DO IT! That’s all there is to it, really.

In case you’re still having trouble, here are some basic steps to get you started:

1. Pick a niche
2. Design a site
3. Monetize with ads or products
4. Get traffic

That’s it.

Slowly slowly

It can seem complicated, but that’s just because you’re still in the beginning stages of your internet marketing education.

Once you “break the seal” of taking action, you’ll find that its easier for you to work on your venture than for you to NOT work on it!

The point is this: Nobody ever made any money in ANYTHING by reading articles, watching YouTube videos and playing on Facebook.

However, if you make this minor change in your mindset, you can use the above mentioned media to make some money.

Instead of consuming so much, why don’t you create something? It doesn’t need to be perfect. Heck, it doesn’t even need to be good! Just put something to buy on the page and get people in front of it.

Do that and you’ll get leads, make sales and get referrals.

Do that and you’ve won 99% of the battle.

You can format everything later

Your main focus should be flooding the web with YOUR VOICE. Use Twitter.

Imagine that you are a dying star exploding into a supernova. You’re constantly expanding, spreading little crumbs of matter across the universe that can all be traced BACK TO YOU!

Why are you still reading this?

Get out there and do something!

Go From Online Marketing Newbie To EARNER By Using This Strategy ALONE originally appeared on VIP Internet Marketing on November 7, 2009.