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Oct 27
2009

54 Ways To Generate Traffic To Your Website

Posted by Stanley Tang in Traffic Generation

1. Pay-Per-Click
2. Banner Advertising
3. Ezine Advertising
4. Text Links
5. Leads (co-registration)
6. Offline Marketing
7. TV, Radio & Podcasts Advertising
8. Newspaper Advertising
9. Word of Mouth Referrals
10. Paid Inclusion
11. Traffic Packages
12. Classified Ads
13. Cost-Per-Action
14. Search Engine Optimization
15. Article Marketing
16. Affiliate Programs
17. Press Release
18. Directories
19. Forum Marketing
20. Email Signature
21. Shopping Sites
22. Shareware-Download Sites
24. Traffic Exchange
25. Banner Exchange
26. Link Exchange
27. CPA Networks
28. Affiliate Networks
29. Desktop Messaging
30. Contests & Races
31. Tele Seminars & Conferences
32. Write Testimonials
33. Surveys
34. Create a Product
35. Expired Domains
36. Exit Traffic
37. Myspace
38. Google, Yahoo & AOL Groups
39. Facebook
40. Social Bookmarking
41. Blogging
42. Video Sites
43. Podcasting
44. Content Sites
45. Wikipedia & Wikihow
46. Yahoo Answers
47. Return traffic
48. List Building
49. Viral Traffic
50. Joint Ventures
51. Product Launches
52. Cross Promotion (Integration Marketing)
53. Giveaway Events & Bonuses
54. Freebies For List Owners

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34 Comments
Oct 08
2009

6 Vital Things To Do Before You Start Writing Your Ebook

Posted by Stanley Tang in Guest Post, Internet Marketing, Make Money Online

This is a guest post by Dr. Mani.

So you want to write an ebook – and are eager to get going. But wait! There are a few simple things you need to do first to make sure your project goes smoothly and fast.

1. Research what’s available

Before you set out to create your content, survey the marketplace. See what others in your niche are doing. Study their process. Look at their quality and depth of their content offering.

Then, decide how you are going to DIFFERENTIATE yourself, set yourself apart from the crowd and become someone special in that niche.

2. Brainstorm

In free-style, jot down notes about what you are going to offer prospects in your niche. Just list things without worrying about details. Rely on your expertise and knowledge. Think about what kind of value you can add to your audience.

3. Arrange your content

After you have listed all the pieces of content you plan creating or offering to your prospects, the next step is to arrange them into some kind of structure.

  • What will you give/create first?
  • What will follow it with?
  • What more will you give people who have already got this?
  • What is your next step, and how will it benefit your audience?

4. Decide how much to give

  • You may know enough about a subject to fill 10 volumes. But are you going to share all of it?
  • Or will you give some, and withhold the rest?
  • Or will you use part of it as a ‘teaser’ sample, to entice some prospects to pay you to learn more?
  • How much will you be writing or recording on a topic?
  • Will you have articles of 500 words? Or will your ebooks be 50 to 60 pages long?
  • And will you create one new report every week, or month, or less often?

5. Plan who will create your content

If you intend outsourcing your content, identify your writers or creative people and have them tested and trained before you begin. I’ve had multiple projects stalled because the people I hired couldn’t deliver, or had to quit for some reason or another.

6. Set timelines and schedules

Having a goal and deadline for each component of your infopreneur project will guarantee it gets done, and done on time.

Decide how much content you will get done on a daily or weekly basis. Create a system to monitor and track progress. Without such a system, you will get hopelessly lost and fall behind.

= = = =

About the author:

Dr.Mani is the author of “Which Niche Will Make YOU Rich?”, a step by step guide to identify hot profitable niches easily. Read about the BIGGEST mistake in information marketing, and how to avoid making it http://InfoProfitz.com/guides/whichniche.htm
–

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27 Comments
Sep 22
2009

Interview With Rhys Davies – Mafioso Marketing

Posted by Stanley Tang in Internet Marketing, Interviews, Make Money Online

Last week, I got the chance to interview fellow internet marketer, Rhys Davies. I asked him couple of questions about internet marketing as well as exactly how he generated $148,000 in NET profit (that’s right – not including costs) in the year 2008. Not bad for a 17 year old.

This is probably one of the most in-depth email interviews I’ve ever conducted (or received!) where Rhys reveals some brilliant golden nuggets. Also, be sure to check out his upcoming product Mafioso Marketing 2.

Enjoy :)

——-

How did you first get involved with Internet marketing?

I absolutely hate it when people ask this question to me. Most Internet marketers have this amazing, fascinating story of how they first got involved with Internet marketing, and mine is quite a bit different. My story is quite embarrassing. Now, I first started Internet marketing when I was around 12 or 13, and I was just an average, teenage boy on the Internet that loved Myspace.com. You all remember those days, right? Ha-ha. Now, on MySpace, you used to be able to put images on there, on your page. You used to put videos, widgets, and all that type of stuff. One day I was searching on Google for some images to put on my MySpace page.

Now, don’t ask how, but somehow, in those search-engine results, I came across the Marketplace at Sitepoint.com, and on there was someone selling a site that gave away these MySpace images. This site was making one or two dollars a day, something like that, and it was for sale for 50 bucks. I can remember saving up my pocket money at the time to purchase the site, and I did. And I’ll tell you now; I thought I was going to be a billionaire in the next year. I was sitting there with my one or two dollars a day, absolutely loving it. I could go down to the shop and afford any packet of sweets I wanted. You know those times where you look back in your life and think, what was I thinking!?… that is one of those moments.

Now, over a period of time, I obviously had to learn how to make more money from my site. The reality of becoming a millionare from that site, was thrown out the window. I couldn’t live on one or two dollars a day, unfortunately. I was searching around and came across the Warrior Forum. And this place was, really, one of the main turning points in my Internet-marketing career, so to speak. This is where I learned a lot of the stuff I know now, where I met a lot of really, really good Internet marketers, and it’s kind of grown from there. I’ve learned tons different methods over the years, failed a lot, and gained a lot as well. And now I am where I am now, owning a big Internet-marketing business at the age of 17.

How were you able to grow your business into a six-figure empire in such a short period of time?

To be honest, the reason why I would say I was able to grow my business so fast in a short period of time, was for the simple fact that I was able to set goals. Now, I know nearly every person in Internet marketing and other niches set goals. But the problem is that people set goals that are really, really high. For example, they might say “I want to own a million-dollar house”. Now, having goals like this is vital and really important, but the only problem when you have goals this big, is that it takes so long to achieve them.

When you’re going for weeks and months on end without achieving anything because you’ve only got that one main goal, you really get let down by yourself. You think that you are doing something wrong. You feel like you are getting nowhere. It stresses you out. These are problems that you don’t need in a business.

Not many people realize, but these stresses majorly affect your work. Because when you are stressed, your brain can’t be in full throttle. It affects your abilities to write or record videos properly etc. So what you need to do is set small, achievable goals that slowly get bigger, to get to your main goal. So for example, my main goal might be to purchase a massive house. But first, my smaller goal is to say, own a nice but cheap little car, then I want to own a $50,000 car, then I want to go and upgrade to an even more expensive car. All before I reach my main goal.

What happens then, is these goals slowly happen, so you are like, yes, this works, I am able to achieve my goals; therefore I am going to really stick into this. I am going to really try my hardest and I am really going to try and succeed in Internet marketing.

Apart from building a business correctly, the mindset is something that is vital to growing your business. It DOES affect your work.

What are your main revenue streams?

My main revenue streams change all the time, due to the fact easier/faster ways of making money come out all the time. At the moment though, my main revenue streams are membership sites and building sites to sell in the future. Now, first, I just want to talk about membership sites. They seem to have kind of a bad name about them: that they’re going to take a lot of work, you’ve got to keep on thinking of new content, and you’ve got tons and tons of support to answer. And the fact is that it’s not like that at all. Memberships are really; really easy to do once you know how to do them correctly. And I do actually go about talking how I do this in Mafioso Marketing 2.

Personally, I have some membership sites that make me $1,000‑$2,000 a month, which I don’t touch. I don’t do anything with them. The work is all done for me. I get all the support tasks done for me and all the content delivered for me, and I don’t touch it all. Just think, if you have a membership site which is making $2,000 a month, that’s $24,000 a year. Requiring no work, its something that I recommended everyone do.

The other way that I’m making money, like I said, is from building websites to sell in the future. These sites don’t necessarily have to be in Internet Marketing either. I actually sold one of my sites for around $30,000 that I’ve been working on for the last 6 months. All the site did was deliver people “funny videos” every day. It was a fun website to build, for obvious reasons.

Again, I do talk about how I do this in Mafioso Marketing 2.

What is Mafioso Marketing 2?

Mafioso Marketing 2 revolves around the famous “MIF” formula, which stands for Monthly, Instant, and Future. There are tons and tons of products online that teach you to make money. The only problem with this is that not every product is suitable for everyone. That’s a simple fact.

You might purchase a product for $67, you scroll down to the third page, and you’ve got to invest another $1,000 before it’s even worthwhile. That’s $67 down the bin. You go on and buy another product for $97, and then you find out to do this one you’ve got to have 10 hours of work put into it every single day for the next two years. Again, that’s $97 down the bin. And all these $67 and $97, and maybe $1,000 or $2,000, they all add up and slowly but surely you are going to run out of money and not have a business.

So what I wanted to do is create a product where, if one method didn’t work for you, you could just scroll down the eBook and find a completely new method of making money online. And that’s what I did with Mafioso Marketing 2, using the “MIF” formula: Monthly, Instant, Future. In Mafioso Marketing 2, I explain a number of different ways to make money in a monthly income-way, instant‑income way, and a future‑income way.

Mafioso Marketing 2 is really one of the products that is going to really, really help you this year in making an online business, because you’re only paying a one‑time payment to get numerous different methods. And also, in the download page area, I do actually offer a number of numerous bonuses that are also going to make you a ton more money as well.

What is the best way to go about making “instant” profit online?

This is most probably THE most asked question that I get, because a lot of people are just starting out in Internet marketing, they haven’t got hundreds and thousands of dollars to spend, and they just want a nice, quick way to make instant profit online. Now, when people ask me this, I don’t tell them a method on how to actually make instant profit. What I tell them to do is to go and build an email list, because building an email list is most probably your most valuable asset that you’ll ever have in your online business.

With a mailing list, you can literally make instant profit on demand when you want it. And not only can you make instant profit; you could also make instant monthly profit. Because, with a mailing list, you could promote a membership site, of your own or as an affiliate, and then, instantly, you’re going to start getting membership commissions. And this is just killer. Sometimes I can promote a membership site and get like 40 people to sign up to a membership site, and that pays me, say, $47, for three, four months.

So, to be honest, I wouldn’t necessarily say that you should go around, first off, looking for an instant profit method to making money online. What you should first do is go around looking for ways to build a mailing list so that you can make instant profit on demand or monthly profit on demand.

Now, I’m not going to just leave that question there and say, “Build a mailing list.” I am actually going to tell you one of my favorite ways to build a mailing list. Now, personally, I know of hundreds of different ways that you can build a mailing list. You can do PPC, you can do ad swaps, etc. But the one that I recommend is doing giveaways, because they are ultimately the best way, when you’re starting out, to build a mailing list. You don’t have to pay for them. All you have to do is have a product of some sort, or a service.

To keep updated on when these giveaway sites are running, do a quick search on Google.

What advice do you have for other young entrepreneurs out there looking to start their own business?

Being young and being in business is kind of different to being older and being in business. When you’re younger, some people do seem to look down on you. They kind of think that you’re doing something that you shouldn’t be doing, especially when you talk to friends and family about it.

They’re like, “Hmm. Are you sure you’re not selling something you shouldn’t be?”

My advice would be to just do what you’re best at, and carry on doing it no matter what anyone else says. Don’t let anyone else’s opinions or what they say get in your way. When somebody says something nasty or someone comments about how young you are and say “Are you sure you’re not doing something wrong?” just tell them to go away, in a nice way. Just say, “I’m running a business here. If you don’t believe me, that’s up to you.” Just be strict but firm with them, OK? Obviously, don’t swear at them and tell them all the names under the sun, but just don’t let them get in your way.

Also, you need to remember that you are trying to build a business. You’re not in it just for the money. Because I know a lot of people can go and just focus on the money first thing, and then, once they’ve got all the money, they’re stuck, they’ve got nowhere to go, because they haven’t got a business. Make sure that you build a business first, because once you’ve got the business foundation there, tons more money is going to come from that.

Thanks for the interview Rhys. Any final comments?

Keep up all the good work. I’ve been hearing a lot of good stuff about all the people out there doing and starting their online business. Like I said in the last question, just don’t let anyone stand in your way. Do what you’re best at and keep at it.

If you’re interested in purchasing my Mafioso Marketing 2 product, then you can go to the website below.

—> Click Here To Go To Mafioso Marketing 2

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31 Comments
Sep 14
2009

Do What You Love And The Success Will Follow

Posted by Stanley Tang in Entrepreneurship

Before you start your business, the first thing I need to get right is my mindset. You can have all the knowledge and information in the world, but if you don’t have the success mindset, all that will mean absolutely nothing and you will not accomplish much.

So what does it take to have a success mindset?

Different people will tell you different things. Some might say it’s focus, others might say it’s visualization. They are all right in different respects, but, the key to success really comes down to one thing:

Passion.

When you love what you’re doing, you’ll never give up. You’ll keep focused, you’ll push yourself and you’ll feel motivated. When you can align your passions with your goals, then the whole mindset thing will eventually catch up with you. That desire to accomplishing your goals kicks in.

It’s almost like your goals become your passion. And when your goals become part of your passion, then you can’t help but to achieve them.

I love internet marketing; I absolutely enjoy it. Yes, it’s a lot of hard work. I work 110% every single day. But to me, it’s just like fun. I breathe, live and eat 24 hours a day… almost to the point of obsessiveness.

Look at people like Donald Trump, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet. They don’t do it for the money. They do it because of the passion they have for what they do. These people are billionaires yet they are still working. I’m pretty sure they’ll have enough money to live on if they choose to retire tomorrow.

Don’t know what you’re passionate about? Get a pen and write down a list. Think about:

  • What are my hobbies?
  • What gets you excited?
  • What do you love to do in your spare-time?
  • What are your talents?
  • What were your childhood dreams?
  • What do you daydream about doing?
  • Is it something you would do even if you didn’t get paid?

Look around and see if your passion is just right under your nose. It might be “stored” in a photo album of your childhood, it might be from a book, it might be from a movie. Go up to your family members and friends and ask them what do they think you’re passionate about. Sometimes, we don’t see that passion ourselves and miss the forest for the trees.

Finding your passion is the right place to start, but it may also be the most difficult part of becoming an entrepreneur. Business can be fun. If you don’t have fun, if you don’t enjoy it, you’re never going to be successful.

Success waits for those who follow their passion.

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36 Comments
Aug 31
2009

Interview With Richard Binhammer – Dell Social Media

Posted by Stanley Tang in Interviews, Twitter

It’s always interesting to see first hand on how major Fortune 100 companies are using social media to promote their products, enhance their brands and connect with customers.

Richard BinhammerThis is why I decided to interview Richard Binhammer (@richardatdell) who is one of the key people responsible for social media at Dell. You might have read a lot recently about how they were able to make $3 million dollars last year – just using Twitter alone! – so I’m sure it will be a great case study to work with :)

And what you’ll find is… there’s not much difference, whether you’re a Fortune 100 or sole trader. The rules of social media remains the same – it’s all about connecting with people. Enjoy :)

1. What is Dell’s main objective or goal for getting into social media marketing? What is Dell trying to achieve here?

I cannot say it any better than Michael Dell did in a Business Week article in the Fall of 2007:

“These conversations are going to occur whether you like it or not. Do you want to be part of that or not? My argument is you absolutely do. You can learn from them. You can improve your reaction time. And you can be a better company by listening and being involved in that conversation.”

You might find this Q&A with Michael and Shel Israel to provide even more context and background:
http://redcouch.typepad.com/weblog/2008/02/michael-dell-ph.html

2. How has Dell managed to turn its brand around by engaging in social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook and simply listening?

Our brand has always been about direct connections and customer relationships, as well as all about the power of the web. I think listening was a first step….a critical step, but so is learning, as well as engaging and having conversations, sharing perspectives and information….in all directions. I think the social networking sites help us be even more of who we aspire to be as a company.

3. How does Dell use Twitter as a marketing tool to help promote their products? How much has Dell made through Twitter?

We’ve been involved in Twitter virtually since it launched about two years ago. Current Dell involvement in Twitter includes:

  • Direct connections between Dell and customers – listen learn and engage in direct connections with customers. There are ~ 200 Dell employees using Twitter to connect with customers for technical support, sharing information (@dellservergeek), collecting ideas from customers for the next generation of net books/Dell minis (@dell_mini), connecting with gamers (@JohnBatDell) and much more
  • Subscribe to Dell info – customers can subscribe and get Dell news from our blogs/Ideastorm Twitter ( see them at dell.com/twitter)
  • Dell offers from businesses – some of our businesses, notably Dell Outlet, publish their latest offers on Twitter. As you know, we’ve attributed ~ $3 million in revenue for Dell outlet from @Delloutlet Twitter presence, with more than 1,000,000 followers, and is a “recommended” Twitter presence to follow by Twitter. It occasionally makes “Twitter-only” offers available to followers. Also, some people following @Delloutlet offers have come over to www.dell.com and bought new equipment to the total of $1 million. You can learn more here http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2009/06/11/delloutlet-surpasses-2-million-on-twitter.aspx

You can find more about about Dell businesses on Twitter here: www.dell.com/twitter.

4. What is IdeaStorm? Does it help increase revenue?

Ideastorm is not about revenue….Ideastorm is about the wisdom of the crowds and innovation. It is about listening to what our customers want from their products and services or what they want from Dell . Dell’s Ideastorm is all about feedback and ideas from customers for us. We have implemented more than 340 of them in 2 years.

5. To what extent has the use of social networking tools (such as Twitter, Facebook, corporate blogging, IdeaStorm) helped increase the top/bottom-line for Dell? How effective has those tools and tactics been?

Well $3 million on Twitter answers part of that question, not to mention the numerous personal requests those of us involved in social media answer about products or services, many of them ultimately resulting in sales. Of course, it is always nice for us too when we run into Dell fans, actively engaging with their own networks and friends.

But equally important is the opportunity social networking allows all of us at Dell to further our direct relationships with customers, to listen learn and engage….make improvements to our business and just keep making Dell a stronger and better business all the time. It’s like having our customers walk the halls of the Dell everyday

6. What are the effects Dell’s social media efforts has had on things such as revenue, engagement level, brand mentions etc?

Dell’s social media efforts have been helpful in a variety of ways and are a component of what we consider to be effective business. As has been reported elsewhere we have seen negative commentary decline by around 30% points. We have identified processes we need to change or things we need to fix, sooner than might have otherwise come to our attention. And yes….we measure all kinds of things and have various metrics.

More importantly, we continue to refine and work on measurement. I think moving forward some of the traditional metrics you mention may still hold weight, but not the same weight. For example, if someone from Dell tweets some news about our expanded recycling efforts, what is the significance of the retweets by others we may not even be associated with? How about links to Facebook page or direct2dell post, and what about the number of times that gets shared by others? I think those may tell you more than some of the items you mention – longer term, anyway.

7. Is Dell considering adopting other social networking tools such as Twitter reps, live streaming etc to further engage with customers and provide better support?

At Dell we are constantly looking to be where our customers are and we are experimenting and trying various things….all the time. It might take the form of better support, or connecting with customers, or sharing information and “accepted solutions” in the forums, or expanding ratings and reviews…time will tell

8. What are some of the main issues or weaknesses Dell is currently facing with its social media campaigns? How are you overcoming those problems?

I think the fact is we learn every day and constantly seek to improve. I don’t see this as “social media campaigns” as I noted before….it is about much more than the latest campaign when it is about connecting directly with customers, relationships and listening to the customer voice.

I think there is a challenge for any organization to have social media permeate in all the right places it needs to be …and we are working on that. I also think it’s a challenge to get it right. Just because Twitter or facebook is the latest and greatest does not necessarily mean someone or a part of the business *has* to be there. I go back to depends on business objectives and what you are trying to achieve.

9. What trends do you see in social media in the future? What new opportunities do you see that Dell will be able to exploit and benefit from?

More specific measurements and different quantifiable results.

I think social media opens opportunities we have not yet recognized yet for improving and building customer *relationships* through human and direct connections…that go way beyond traditional thoughts about CRM and relate more to community.

10. What advice do you have for small businesses looking to integrate social media into their marketing campaigns?

Listen first. Check out the resources readily available to you…give it time.

And, thank you Stanley for the opening, I am biased but check out: Social media for Small Business, powered by Dell on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/dellsocialmedia

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    Tony Chen - Tony is the founder and editor-in-chief of Looks.GD, an online magazine delivering content to graphics designers and web developers of all skill levels and providing them with resources and inspiration for their work. He is an avid user of social media and experienced web designer. He occasionally guest posts here at The University Kid

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