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Inspiration…

In every case inspiration is a key to succeeding online.  You have to set your own goals and have your own reasons for wanting to go further and expand your business.  When I am in the need of inspiration or am feeling a little depressed for not meeting different quotas, I find that looking at other people's success and how they have become successful get me back into the mood to grow my brand.  A good site which has interviews on hundreds of successful online entrepreneurs is http://www.retireat21.com, and the interviews are located at http://www.retireat21.com/interviews/ .

PPC OR SEO ?

If you’re trying to promote a website online then you’ll probably be familiar with two terms that can help you do this. The first being ‘PPC’ and the second being ‘SEO’. As these are both acronyms they can be fairly impenetrable to the layman but are fairly easy to understand with a little bit of explanation. Once you know the ins and outs of each you can then decide which is best for your particular needs and where you should be channelling your resources.
‘PPC’ stands for ‘Pay Per Click’ which refers to a particular type of advertising. As the name suggests, this form of advertising means that the companies only pay when someone clicks on their advert. This is in keeping with a fairly new model of business that can be found in various forms in a selection of industries whereby the client only pays when they get a result with no need to put in an investment up front (‘POD’ or ‘Print On Demand’ is the same in the publishing industry, whereby printing companies only print copies, and therefore only charge commission, when copies of their client’s titles are sold). By ‘bidding’ on how much you’re willing to pay for each click, you can then increase how regularly your advertising shows up on other sites and search engines. The most popular PPC provider is probably still Google who will publish your adverts on their search pages (targeted to come up as ’sponsored links’ only when people search for relevant keywords) and on the websites of their business partners.

There are many other popular options however with Facebook recently becoming quite a major player in targeted PPC advertising.  SEO on the other hand stands for ‘Search Engine Optimization’, which describes the various methods used by webmasters to get their websites to rank highly in the main search results on sites like Google, Yahoo and Bing without paying for the privilege. This is achieved by researching ‘keywords’ or ‘keyphrases’ – which are the terms that visitors search for regularly on sites. By writing the content on the site in such a way that it includes these precise phrases, webmasters can then ensure that Google recognises those articles as being relevant and brings them up when the users search for those terms or similar ones.

There is more to SEO than this however, and other methods involve changes the names of images and html files, and tailoring the meta tags to help the search engines’ ’spiders’ to find the pages. Another method is to ensure that lots of links on other sites point towards yours which can help the search engines to find it as well as making it look more important and respectable (the more highly ranked the page that links to yours is the more the link will be ‘worth’). One of the easiest ways to do this is by submitting articles to article directories with links embedded in the text.
Both of these options have strengths and weaknesses. While PPC has a more immediate effect, it is limited to the amount of money you put into it; whereas SEO has the potential to generate massive amounts of self-perpetuated traffic for a short amount of money with a little bit of luck. One option then is to split the funding across the two methods in order to draw traffic in in the long term and the short term, or to learn to use SEO yourself rather than outsourcing the service for a bigger price (though you will likely get a more efficient service by using a professional service and will yield greater results more quickly). The correct method however will eventually depend on your business and on your personal preferences.

Your 2010 Marketing Budget

HOW SHOULD I SPEND MY MARKETING BUDGET IN 2010?

Many people are understandably nervous about spending their hard earned money in the current economic situation. Companies continue to downsize their marketing budgets, which increases that anxiety. Confusion on how to best tackle a marketing strategy is common, with many wondering if they should have a marketing budget at all. This confusion, in addition to frequent newer and better technology and internet advertising options, has peoples’ heads spinning. Employees are fearful that they may lose their job if they make one wrong move. Owners and employees commit to taking the”safe” way, knowing the results will be sub-par.

“You have to be in it to win it”. Although this quote is cliché, it is also true. Prospects and customers no longer approach many companies. Consumer behavior and technology are constantly evolving. As a result, it is more important than ever to be on top of your marketing strategy. In difficult economic times, it is even more important for your brand and company to be noticed.

As 2010 begins, it is important to be positive. Too many companies have cut back or eliminated their marketing budget. A successful marketing and direct mail program does not need to cost an excessive amount of money. Thomas Glenn, Vice President of Business Development of the New York based East Coast Graphics (www.EcoastGraphics.com), states,”the key to success in today’s market is to be as efficient in your marketing efforts as possible.” Using one form of media to reach potential clients does not work. Being unique, clever, and integrating multiple forms of communication is key to conveying your message effectively.

Where do I spend in 2010?

This is probably the most common question asked this year. There are many options from which to choose including: direct mail, internet marketing, social media, pay per click advertising, television, radio marketing, etc. However, none of the aforementioned forms of communication will generate successful returns individually. An integrated approach using multiple media sources will generate the highest return. Each company is unique. Therefore, every organization requires an individualized integrated approach to their marketing strategy. There are many articles and blogs claiming a particular marketing strategy or combination is most effective. In reality, a company needs to try different combinations to determine which integrated strategy works best to meet their needs. Unless you actually test a marketing strategy, you will not know whether a particular approach will be successful or not.

Back to Basics

When thinking about marketing online don't forget to remember the basics!

The 4 P's of marketing:

Product

Price

Placement (distribution)

Promotion

Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs

Niche

While browsing the internet about marketing techniques and overall online business a lot of it boils down to niche.  A niche is simply the topic you choose to make your website on.  Most commonly referring to Google Adsense, depending on the niche you are in, you have the possibility to make more money per click if the niche is larger, compared to small niches.  For example niches in marketing have fairly high yields, like this blog, while other small niches would pay lower.  The reason behind this is solely based on the advertiser's competition in the market - the more competition the advertiser has to get their brand out there, the higher the price they are going to have to pay- thus, the more money you will make per click .

Here is a small list of some of the top paying niches to be in today:

Agricultural equipment
Antiques and Collectibles
Anti-aging
Architecture
Automotive
Banking and Finance
Business Process Outsourcing
Cancer (all types)
Car and auto insurance
Communications (ISP/LAN/Wireless)
Computer Hardware
Computer Repair
Specialized Software (CAD, SAP)
Consumer Electronics
Credit and Finance
Debt consolidation
Dedicated Hosting
Dentistry and Orthodontics
Distant learning
Electrical Appliances
Engineering Schools
Exotic Restaurants and Foods
Forex
Furniture
General Health
Health and Medical Insurance
Heavy Equipment
Industrial Machinery
ISP and Networking
Legal (personal injury law)
Loans and Mortgage
Mesothelioma and asbestos cancer
Digital Photography
Military Equipment
Offshore Job
Online Degree
Pawn Shop and Jewelry
PC and Internet Security
PLC and Pheumatics
Psychotheraphy
Real Estate
SEO software and tools
Solar panels
Sports (boxing and MMA)
Sports (car racing)
Sports (golf)
Telecommunications Companies
Tourism & Luxury shipping
Web Development
Weight Loss

Descisions, descisions…

When deciding on what to do when it comes to building an empire online the most prevalent options usually come from these two figures:

a) Publish 1 website and grow it until it reaches the $100/Day mark in profit
b) Publish 100 websites that each earn $1/Day in profit

I know when I first started working online I wanted to make thousands of blogs and get my Adsense code out there as much as I could, but in reality that is not the way you should go.  The best proven technique to making money online is to simply build 1 site, but dedicate all of your time and effort into that site to reach the value of what you might think as thousands of sites put together.  The underlying decision is up for you to decide.  If you are just starting online I would suggest you try making a couple blogs and see how well they do for yourself to see what might work out better for you in the end.

Website Design/Programming

A little while ago I needed a programmer to design and program one of my websites.  Here are a couple of tips when looking for a programmer/designer online:

a.) Let them know EXACTLY what you require and expect from them from the start

b.) don't pay them ANYTHING until the job is done to your 100% satisfaction

I use http://www.guru.com to find online programmers - there are thousands to choose from but make sure you choose one with a high ranking and good reviews and remember, if the price is too good to be true, it probably is