While the primary focus of this newsletter
is on teaching you to market your business online, we realize that many
of you are just getting started and may not have an established business
to promote. Or maybe you're involved with something now, but you're not
happy with the way things are going and you're looking for something new.
Even if you're happy with the way things are, read on and we'll share
a "secret" with you.
There are two choices when it comes to deciding
how you're going to make money online - you can either sell someone else's
products and services, or you can sell your own. There are pros and cons
with each. Aside from that you need to decide on the specific types of
products or services that you want to sell, and who you'll sell them to.
You'll want to make these decisions carefully
because they can mean the difference between failure, mild success, and
literally unbelievable profits. Take it from us, the last thing you want
to be doing is wasting your time on unsuccessful ventures. No one has
time for that.
There are many ways to make money online,
but the first thing you need to do is set your goals. Are you looking
to make a few extra bucks in your spare time, or are you looking for a
new career? In terms of developing a strategy for making money online
the two are completely different, so you need to decide before you go
any further.
For the record, we are obligated to dispel
any myths you may have about getting rich quick on the Internet - despite
what you may have heard, most likely it's not going to happen. Technically
it depends on your definition of the words "rich" and "quick," and the
amount of effort you put into it, but developing a full-time income online
isn't going to happen overnight. Rather, it's the result of many late
nights.
If you'd be thrilled to earn an extra $100-2,000
per month in your spare time, you may want to consider joining an affiliate
or reseller program, or even a network marketing organization. Maybe you
have absolutely no interest in replacing your current career, or you just
don't have much time to devote to your online business right now. And
that's fine.
On the other hand, maybe you'd just love
to tell your boss to take a hike once your online income exceeds the income
from your present job. It's not out of the question, and it can happen
a lot sooner than you think if you're willing to work hard at it. We're
living proof of that.
Spend some time answering these questions
for yourself. What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Are you looking
for relatively quick income, or are you in it for the long haul and willing
to be a little more patient? How much time per day can you devote to your
business? How much money are you willing to invest in your business?
Affiliate, Click-Thru, And Reseller Programs
The quickest way to start making money on
the Internet is to promote someone else's web site, products, or services.
Generally speaking all you'll need to concentrate on is advertising, because
whomever you're working with normally handles everything else - and this
means that you can start making money almost immediately.
If you just want to make a few extra bucks
in your spare time, or you don't have much time to devote to an online
business, promoting someone else's web site, products, or services may
be the best way to get started. There are hundreds, if not thousands,
of businesses on the Internet which will pay you to help promote their
wares online.
Affiliate or reseller programs as they're
commonly called are everywhere these days. There's a good reason for it
too, and we'll talk about that in the not too distant future. Each program
is different and the range of products and services offered is huge -
you can earn some decent money in various ways, selling everything from
art to Y2K solutions.
Details on individual affiliate and reseller
programs are well beyond the scope of this article, but there are several
great resources which are updated regularly and will help you to find
a program that's right for you. If you're going to concentrate on selling
someone else's products or services, definitely bookmark these sites:
Selling someone else's products and services
as your primary source of online income has its pros and cons. For some
people the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and it's a great way
to start building a nice extra income. It all depends on you and your
goals.
Other marketers use affiliate and reseller
programs only as a "backend" to their own products or services, to generate
additional income without doing much extra work. Consider the advantages
and disadvantages of selling other peoples' wares and determine what's
right for you.
Advantages of selling someone else's
products or services:
- It's less work. You don't need to create
products or services of your own. You don't need to worry about designing
sites, secure servers, processing credit cards, customer service, or
just about anything else that has to do with running an online business.
You can just advertise.
- You can start earning extra income immediately.
Because all you need to do is advertise, you can get started right away
and literally begin earning money within a matter of days or even minutes
in some cases.
Disadvantages of selling someone else's
products or services:
- You'll make less money. Unless your
margins or commissions are high and/or you're targeting a niche market
without much competition, it's difficult for the average person to make
significant amounts of money in this manner. These days some of the
more popular reseller programs have so many affiliates that it's difficult
to stand out from the crowd.
- Normally you have little control over
anything. When you're promoting someone else's products or services,
their problems are your problems - and there's normally nothing you
can do to fix them. Who knows, they may even go out of business or decide
to shut down their reseller program one day. What happens then to all
of your hard work?
If you'd be satisfied with an extra $100-2,000
a month, or you need to earn some cash as quickly as possible, or you
have less than an hour per day to devote to an online business, affiliate
and reseller programs might be just right for you. You'll still be helping
someone else to get rich, but it's the easiest way to get your feet wet
in your spare time.
On the other hand, unless the advantages
listed above are more important to you than profit potential, consider
developing your own products and services. With just a little more effort
you could be running the show - and keeping a majority of the profits
for yourself. If you're determined to make more than a few thousand dollars
per month online, realize that you're probably going to have to do your
own thing.
There's nothing wrong with commission-based
marketing, but it can't be your primary focus if you're after the big
money. Selling other peoples' products and services is best used as a
backend to your own products. Once you have established a customer base
and/or online community, your credibility enables you to easily develop
additional income streams by recommending other peoples' related products
or services.
Creating Your Own Profit-Centers, Products,
And Services
Nothing else can compare to creating and
marketing your own products, and it really is the only way to take total
control of your financial future. When you sell your own stuff, you'll
make more money and have more control over your business - and that's
extremely important.
But how does one decide which product or
service to sell? And where is it going to come from? To most people, the
idea of developing a product and selling it for a profit is something
that only happens on those late-night infomercials. But it is possible.
Keep reading because we're going to explain the one concept that will
help you more than anything else.
We are asked all the time, "What is the
best thing to sell online?" While information and computer or Internet
related items are probably the hottest sellers, you can sell almost anything
on the Internet. If the idea of creating a tangible product or service
just doesn't interest you at all, you can even build a huge business selling
advertising to other sites.
There's just one thing to remember, and
it's where 99% of all marketers drop the ball - never create a product
or service and then try to figure out who to sell it to. That's completely
backwards, and you'll probably waste an enormous amount of time and money
in the process.
What you should do instead is focus on an
existing market, figure out what they want to buy, and then create something
to fill their needs. Once you've done that you simply let them know it's
available.
Since you have already determined that there's
an existing demand for it, your product or service should literally sell
itself. Why waste time trying to convince people that they need your product
when you can just as easily create and sell them what they already want
to buy?
Not every product, service, or site that
you create is going to be a winner, but if you approach product development
in this way it will really tip the odds in your favor. If it sounds too
easy, that's because it is.
Most people don't seem to understand this
concept, and it's a shame. They fall in love with a product and then try
to figure out how to sell it, but more often than not they can't. Promise
us you won't be one of them.
You're going to have to know, or be willing
to learn, just about everything there is to know about your specific industry.
That's pretty hard to do if you're not sincerely interested in it, and
probably not much fun.
Keep your ears and eyes open. When someone
says "There must be an easier way to ..." or "I wish there was a way to
..." that's a new product waiting to be created. Hit the search engines
and search for popular sites related to your areas of expertise or interest.
Look for products and services that other people are selling successfully,
figure out how they are doing it, then add your own unique twist and copy
their success!
|  The Insider Secrets to Marketing Your Business on the Internet - Learn from the best. The author of this site, Corey Rudl gets over 1.8 million visitors to his websites monthly, does 6.6 million dollars in sales online each year (yes, that is $6,600,000), and personally makes hundreds of thousands of dollars from his online businesses... all from his one small office. So listen to what he has to say as he knows what he is talking about when it comes to starting and promoting a business on the Internet.
Click here to learn the most efficient and fastest way to make money on the Internet now. He reveals all his unconventional tips, tricks and techniques with examples. |
