Monday, March 10, 2008
Adsense - The Powerful Passive Income Generator!
By: Matt Bacak
Webmasters have a revolutionary new method of collecting income from their websites.
Whereas in the past advertising revenue was reserved for those sites with large a coming and going of visitors, now even teenagers are making a quick buck with their online hobby blogs. People place adsense on their online family photo albums, their blogs and their business sites. The minimum you would get, even with a small amount of traffic, is for adsense to pay for your hosting costs.
Adsense revolutionized the world of paid advertising; banner advertising is based on the number of visitors you attract to your site, so the number of "banner impressions" dictate the revenue you receive. Google Adsense is quite different; it is the number of visitors that actually click on the advertising that determine how much you earn.
There is also a great disparity between payouts; because advertisers bid up the price for certain keywords, some ads pay more than others. As such, a site with few visitors but expensive keywords in their google ads can potentially still pull in a hefty payout.
Google really has taken the web by storm; attracted to passive income, more and more people are seriously capitalizing on their Google adsense advertising. Some of the highest earners manage to attract enough visitors to make a four figure monthly income, just from using adsense alone! This is not one of those get-rich-quick schemes and Google's adsense success is largely thanks to the fact that Google already enjoyed a fantastic reputation before introducing the program. They are a publicly traded company with physical headquarters. This, and the fact that anyone can apply to use adsense for free, has caused millions of people to sign up. For google it was a smart move, because now they extend their presence to countless websites and generate millions of dollars in advertising revenue. People were never reluctant to sign up, because the program is free. Google benefits by more people using adsense, so offering it for free was the best thing they could do.
One of the driving forced behind the program are its relevance to each and every page on a website; the program picks up keywords appearing in the website copy and automatically displays relevant ads. This increases the chances of people clicking through, and the webmaster collecting more revenue.
People are leveraging their income by operating several websites and attempting to attract as many targeted visitors as possible; in many instances we can observe that people work hard at a site, then once it is established they can largely leave it alone, yet still collect significant checks.
A major concern for entrepreneurs was the danger of a competitors ads showing up on their site; thanks to the adsense feature where it only displays relevant advertising. However this problem was solved by offering webmasters the option of filtering out unwanted ads. They can submit the URL of the competing site in their account, and any ads from the website will be blocked.
Google recently came out with a new feature: small targeted keywords based on the site's content are displayed; then as people click on those, a page opens showing a variety of pay-per-click ads based on that keyword. This gives webmasters the chance of displaying more advertising in less space.
Adsense also adds creditability to your website; the more focused the content, the better the ads will be and this encourages people to built high quality websites. These make the net a better place and generally provide a free service; site owners can afford to share their expertise or passions because they can receive indirect revenue's. The visitor does not pay for the information; instead the advertisers do, making the website's existence possible in the first place.
It is no surprise Google adsense is the most widely used form of advertising; they have created a program that is beneficial to both advertisers and users with their "no click no pay" mechanism, or more popularly called "pay-per-click". Advertisers do not pay for ads that are not drawing visitors, and website owners are paid more for each click than they would if the system were based on the number of people viewing the ads, instead of clicking on them.
All in all Google adsense has developed itself into a powerful tool, used by large corporations and the kid next door. They have truly revolutionized how the web thinks about advertising and made the process more profitable for site owners, while less costly for advertisers.
Webmasters have a revolutionary new method of collecting income from their websites.
Whereas in the past advertising revenue was reserved for those sites with large a coming and going of visitors, now even teenagers are making a quick buck with their online hobby blogs. People place adsense on their online family photo albums, their blogs and their business sites. The minimum you would get, even with a small amount of traffic, is for adsense to pay for your hosting costs.
Adsense revolutionized the world of paid advertising; banner advertising is based on the number of visitors you attract to your site, so the number of "banner impressions" dictate the revenue you receive. Google Adsense is quite different; it is the number of visitors that actually click on the advertising that determine how much you earn.
There is also a great disparity between payouts; because advertisers bid up the price for certain keywords, some ads pay more than others. As such, a site with few visitors but expensive keywords in their google ads can potentially still pull in a hefty payout.
Google really has taken the web by storm; attracted to passive income, more and more people are seriously capitalizing on their Google adsense advertising. Some of the highest earners manage to attract enough visitors to make a four figure monthly income, just from using adsense alone! This is not one of those get-rich-quick schemes and Google's adsense success is largely thanks to the fact that Google already enjoyed a fantastic reputation before introducing the program. They are a publicly traded company with physical headquarters. This, and the fact that anyone can apply to use adsense for free, has caused millions of people to sign up. For google it was a smart move, because now they extend their presence to countless websites and generate millions of dollars in advertising revenue. People were never reluctant to sign up, because the program is free. Google benefits by more people using adsense, so offering it for free was the best thing they could do.
One of the driving forced behind the program are its relevance to each and every page on a website; the program picks up keywords appearing in the website copy and automatically displays relevant ads. This increases the chances of people clicking through, and the webmaster collecting more revenue.
People are leveraging their income by operating several websites and attempting to attract as many targeted visitors as possible; in many instances we can observe that people work hard at a site, then once it is established they can largely leave it alone, yet still collect significant checks.
A major concern for entrepreneurs was the danger of a competitors ads showing up on their site; thanks to the adsense feature where it only displays relevant advertising. However this problem was solved by offering webmasters the option of filtering out unwanted ads. They can submit the URL of the competing site in their account, and any ads from the website will be blocked.
Google recently came out with a new feature: small targeted keywords based on the site's content are displayed; then as people click on those, a page opens showing a variety of pay-per-click ads based on that keyword. This gives webmasters the chance of displaying more advertising in less space.
Adsense also adds creditability to your website; the more focused the content, the better the ads will be and this encourages people to built high quality websites. These make the net a better place and generally provide a free service; site owners can afford to share their expertise or passions because they can receive indirect revenue's. The visitor does not pay for the information; instead the advertisers do, making the website's existence possible in the first place.
It is no surprise Google adsense is the most widely used form of advertising; they have created a program that is beneficial to both advertisers and users with their "no click no pay" mechanism, or more popularly called "pay-per-click". Advertisers do not pay for ads that are not drawing visitors, and website owners are paid more for each click than they would if the system were based on the number of people viewing the ads, instead of clicking on them.
All in all Google adsense has developed itself into a powerful tool, used by large corporations and the kid next door. They have truly revolutionized how the web thinks about advertising and made the process more profitable for site owners, while less costly for advertisers.
A Covert Nitro Tactic To Capture 70% of Your Competition's New Subscribers
By: Rick Miller
In a recent interview with Tellman Knudson for the List Crusade program, Kevin Wilke, co-founder of Nitro Marketing, revealed some of the insider secrets that allowed his company to quickly become one the most respected and profitable Internet marketing companies.
(Note: To access Kevin Wilke's complete audio interview for free, see end of article)
Last year, his company did more than $1 million online, paying out more than $115,000 to affiliates, and earning more than $125,000 from various affiliate programs. Nitro's total business is expected to more than quadruple in the next 12 months.
When asked for one of his top Internet Marketing secrets, Kevin said:
"First I want to give you one very valuable tip on how to go out there and build your opt-in list, your webcast list, or just your general newsletter list.
It's something that we've found to be extremely effective, and probably one of the least used assets in your business.
When somebody subscribes to your newsletter, they're going to go to a confirmation page that tells them 'thank you for subscribing' and that's usually just about all. And what we've found is that's probably the most valuable asset right there.
What we've been doing for about five years is to recommend another newsletter on that page, as a thank you for subscribing to my newsletter.
I put 'I also found this newsletter extremely valuable and I recommend that you sign up to it, too.'
We found anywhere between 50 and 70% of the people also subscribed to that newsletter also. So, if you connect the dots, if you go out and find other people that have their own newsletter and you ask them if they would recommend people to subscribe to your newsletter after they subscribe to theirs, all of a sudden you're getting 50 to 70% of their subscribers on to your list."
In the List Crusade interview Kevin also revealed:
How he took a website that pulled only measly $100 a month and within 30 days had it selling more than $100,000
The key secret to amassing thousands of loyal customers and subscribers who are hungry for everything you offer them
A new technology that will explode your list and have your subscribers totally excited about pulling out their credit card to get your product
How to train your customers to buy your products at your command and take action immediately
How to motivate thousands of affiliates to promote your product for you while you sit back and rake in profits
Discover the revolutionary affiliate software that allows Nitro to manage a huge army of affiliates Take these secrets from Kevin Wilke's interview and use them today. The more you use them, the more you'll find that your Internet Marketing business is exploding, your opt-in list is sky-rocketing, and your bank account is bursting at the seams.
In a recent interview with Tellman Knudson for the List Crusade program, Kevin Wilke, co-founder of Nitro Marketing, revealed some of the insider secrets that allowed his company to quickly become one the most respected and profitable Internet marketing companies.
(Note: To access Kevin Wilke's complete audio interview for free, see end of article)
Last year, his company did more than $1 million online, paying out more than $115,000 to affiliates, and earning more than $125,000 from various affiliate programs. Nitro's total business is expected to more than quadruple in the next 12 months.
When asked for one of his top Internet Marketing secrets, Kevin said:
"First I want to give you one very valuable tip on how to go out there and build your opt-in list, your webcast list, or just your general newsletter list.
It's something that we've found to be extremely effective, and probably one of the least used assets in your business.
When somebody subscribes to your newsletter, they're going to go to a confirmation page that tells them 'thank you for subscribing' and that's usually just about all. And what we've found is that's probably the most valuable asset right there.
What we've been doing for about five years is to recommend another newsletter on that page, as a thank you for subscribing to my newsletter.
I put 'I also found this newsletter extremely valuable and I recommend that you sign up to it, too.'
We found anywhere between 50 and 70% of the people also subscribed to that newsletter also. So, if you connect the dots, if you go out and find other people that have their own newsletter and you ask them if they would recommend people to subscribe to your newsletter after they subscribe to theirs, all of a sudden you're getting 50 to 70% of their subscribers on to your list."
In the List Crusade interview Kevin also revealed:
How he took a website that pulled only measly $100 a month and within 30 days had it selling more than $100,000
The key secret to amassing thousands of loyal customers and subscribers who are hungry for everything you offer them
A new technology that will explode your list and have your subscribers totally excited about pulling out their credit card to get your product
How to train your customers to buy your products at your command and take action immediately
How to motivate thousands of affiliates to promote your product for you while you sit back and rake in profits
Discover the revolutionary affiliate software that allows Nitro to manage a huge army of affiliates Take these secrets from Kevin Wilke's interview and use them today. The more you use them, the more you'll find that your Internet Marketing business is exploding, your opt-in list is sky-rocketing, and your bank account is bursting at the seams.
How To Choose An Internet Marketing Niche And Quickly Dominate It
By: Rick Miller
In a recent interview with Tellman Knudson for the List Crusade program, Shawn Casey revealed how to choose an Internet Marketing niche and crush your competition.
(Note: To access Shawn Casey's complete audio interview for free, see end of article)
Shawn's background as an attorney, author, publisher, company owner, corporate executive, public speaker, and teacher makes him uniquely qualified to show you how to be a success in Internet Marketing. Shawn is recognized one of the leading financial experts in the world. He is credited with making and saving thousands of people millions of dollars because of the valuable information he provides.
Listen closely to what Shawn has to say:
"Let's say you know something about rose gardening. You love rose gardening. You're probably an expert at it, even though you don't realize it, because this is your passion.
Your marketplace would be other people that are interested in rose gardening. You can create a report, audio, video... something that is valuable information about rose gardening... maybe how to prune them...how to do something. I don't know much about rose gardening, so I don't specifically know what that would be.
Then you go find the people who have traffic with people coming in looking to buy roses, information about how to care for their roses, what roses to plant, where to plant them, how to trim them, how to cut them, and all that cool stuff that people do.
You then go to those people who are driving in traffic and acquiring subscribers. You say to them, 'Listen, I've got this information that is of value to your visitors. So when you offer it to them, Mr. Rose Grower, you're going to be a good guy. You're giving them free information that they'd otherwise have to go down to the garden store or Home Depot and give money for. You're giving it away free. That's going to help you out and help your creditability, make your customers like you better, make you seem like a nice guy, and help you build your list.'
In turn, you get a little good will, good karma, some subscribers, and potentially customers. Obviously, you don't need to tell them this. This is just something for them to figure out. They're distributing your product that leads them back to your website so that they might buy from you. This doesn't hurt them at all because you're not competing with them directly.
Using this method, we piggyback on that related market because we provide the information, while they provide the product."
In the List Crusade interview, Shawn also revealed:
How to ethically cheat building your list fast and cheap by leveraging your resources
Two steps to quickly become the acknowledged expert in any niche
Is banner advertising dead?
Get paid to build your list for free
What is the one secret way to test your website for less than $30? As you read Shawn's secrets of how to quickly achieve success in any niche, you begin to realize the tremendous potential and knowledge you already possess. So the only question is, will you take the next step and take action today?
In a recent interview with Tellman Knudson for the List Crusade program, Shawn Casey revealed how to choose an Internet Marketing niche and crush your competition.
(Note: To access Shawn Casey's complete audio interview for free, see end of article)
Shawn's background as an attorney, author, publisher, company owner, corporate executive, public speaker, and teacher makes him uniquely qualified to show you how to be a success in Internet Marketing. Shawn is recognized one of the leading financial experts in the world. He is credited with making and saving thousands of people millions of dollars because of the valuable information he provides.
Listen closely to what Shawn has to say:
"Let's say you know something about rose gardening. You love rose gardening. You're probably an expert at it, even though you don't realize it, because this is your passion.
Your marketplace would be other people that are interested in rose gardening. You can create a report, audio, video... something that is valuable information about rose gardening... maybe how to prune them...how to do something. I don't know much about rose gardening, so I don't specifically know what that would be.
Then you go find the people who have traffic with people coming in looking to buy roses, information about how to care for their roses, what roses to plant, where to plant them, how to trim them, how to cut them, and all that cool stuff that people do.
You then go to those people who are driving in traffic and acquiring subscribers. You say to them, 'Listen, I've got this information that is of value to your visitors. So when you offer it to them, Mr. Rose Grower, you're going to be a good guy. You're giving them free information that they'd otherwise have to go down to the garden store or Home Depot and give money for. You're giving it away free. That's going to help you out and help your creditability, make your customers like you better, make you seem like a nice guy, and help you build your list.'
In turn, you get a little good will, good karma, some subscribers, and potentially customers. Obviously, you don't need to tell them this. This is just something for them to figure out. They're distributing your product that leads them back to your website so that they might buy from you. This doesn't hurt them at all because you're not competing with them directly.
Using this method, we piggyback on that related market because we provide the information, while they provide the product."
In the List Crusade interview, Shawn also revealed:
How to ethically cheat building your list fast and cheap by leveraging your resources
Two steps to quickly become the acknowledged expert in any niche
Is banner advertising dead?
Get paid to build your list for free
What is the one secret way to test your website for less than $30? As you read Shawn's secrets of how to quickly achieve success in any niche, you begin to realize the tremendous potential and knowledge you already possess. So the only question is, will you take the next step and take action today?
Adding Profit to Your Work from Home Internet Business
By: Jeff Casmer
Many individuals, from all walks of life, are making the decision to work from home. There are an unlimited number of work at home business ideas; however, the internet has the most potential.Internet websites are often developed for personal or business use. What once may have been considered a personal site may now even be used to make money. Affiliate programs, commonly referred to as associate programs, are a way for website owners to make money through internet marketing. Affiliate programs work by connecting people to another website. There are a wide number of well known national companies who use affiliate programs to increase the traffic to their website. Individuals who have their own website will generally display a banner or link to a certain website. The linking website is often a business that sells something. Affiliate programs are profitable to website owners because whenever an internet user signs up for something or buys a products, they are paid commission. Affiliate programs are an effective marketing technique that offer benefits to everyone involved. Website owners are paid for their participation and the businesses on the other end are promoting and selling their products.Deciding to participate in an affiliate program is a fairly easy process and can sometimes involve little work. If you are a website owner, the more work you do on your website, the more likely you are to receive affiliate clickers. This is due to search engine optimizations. Many articles or topics inside a website contain keywords that search engines may pick up. If an individual is searching for information on popular children's toys and your website has articles or information concerning them, they may be linked to your site. Internet users love to see new articles, information, or products. For this reason, constantly updating your website may bring in new visitors and also keep existing visitors coming back.Developing a website can be for fun or a part of home employment. Home employment is on the rise and many individuals are making the decision to work from their home. Home employment allows parents, elderly, or disabled individuals to work from the comfort of their home. Although these individuals are common work from home people, just about everyone has the ability to work from inside their home. A work from home internet business can including selling merchandise or offering a service. For instance, many individuals sell homemade or wholesale merchandise or some offer their web design or writing skills. Affiliate programs are an effective tool in obtaining additional profits for a work at home internet business. Although affiliate programs are used and are widely popular among internet businesses, they are also successful with personal websites. Blogging has greatly increased in popularity. In fact, a large number of internet users have a blog. It is possible to link up affiliate programs with a blog. Affiliate programs are becoming extremely popular among website owners or bloggers. It is a fairly simple way to acquire additional profits through an existing work from home internet business. It is great programs, such as affiliate marketing programs, that allows many individuals to successfully work from home and make a profit.
Many individuals, from all walks of life, are making the decision to work from home. There are an unlimited number of work at home business ideas; however, the internet has the most potential.Internet websites are often developed for personal or business use. What once may have been considered a personal site may now even be used to make money. Affiliate programs, commonly referred to as associate programs, are a way for website owners to make money through internet marketing. Affiliate programs work by connecting people to another website. There are a wide number of well known national companies who use affiliate programs to increase the traffic to their website. Individuals who have their own website will generally display a banner or link to a certain website. The linking website is often a business that sells something. Affiliate programs are profitable to website owners because whenever an internet user signs up for something or buys a products, they are paid commission. Affiliate programs are an effective marketing technique that offer benefits to everyone involved. Website owners are paid for their participation and the businesses on the other end are promoting and selling their products.Deciding to participate in an affiliate program is a fairly easy process and can sometimes involve little work. If you are a website owner, the more work you do on your website, the more likely you are to receive affiliate clickers. This is due to search engine optimizations. Many articles or topics inside a website contain keywords that search engines may pick up. If an individual is searching for information on popular children's toys and your website has articles or information concerning them, they may be linked to your site. Internet users love to see new articles, information, or products. For this reason, constantly updating your website may bring in new visitors and also keep existing visitors coming back.Developing a website can be for fun or a part of home employment. Home employment is on the rise and many individuals are making the decision to work from their home. Home employment allows parents, elderly, or disabled individuals to work from the comfort of their home. Although these individuals are common work from home people, just about everyone has the ability to work from inside their home. A work from home internet business can including selling merchandise or offering a service. For instance, many individuals sell homemade or wholesale merchandise or some offer their web design or writing skills. Affiliate programs are an effective tool in obtaining additional profits for a work at home internet business. Although affiliate programs are used and are widely popular among internet businesses, they are also successful with personal websites. Blogging has greatly increased in popularity. In fact, a large number of internet users have a blog. It is possible to link up affiliate programs with a blog. Affiliate programs are becoming extremely popular among website owners or bloggers. It is a fairly simple way to acquire additional profits through an existing work from home internet business. It is great programs, such as affiliate marketing programs, that allows many individuals to successfully work from home and make a profit.
Eight No-Fail Steps for E-Commerce Marketing
By: Jamila White, "The E-Commerce DivaTM"
I know how to get a blank stare from just about any e-commerce web site owner. All I have to do is ask them about their web site marketing plan!When I ask them about their web site marketing plan, I get that look. First the eyebrows go up. Then the eyes glaze over for a minute. And then the stammering begins."Uh, well, you know - I have my URL on my business card." "I, ah, I'm going to start an e-mail newsletter."Some of them may even mention something about "search engines."But practically no one has a plan! And you know how the old saying goes: "Failure to plan is a plan to fail."Most small business owners I talk to are frustrated. They think their web site is a big waste of money. An "online business card." A "marketing expense" that doesn't return any of its investment. And no wonder:You've spent thousands on a pretty web design. You shell out dough each and every month for web site hosting. You may even be paying a webmaster to update the web site regularly. And month after month, year after year, the sales barely trickle in.Marketing your web site is frustrating. It's confusing! So we end up doing what all of us do when we're frustrated and confused: deal with it "later." And later never comes.Know what? It's not your fault! No one ever taught you how to market on the Internet, this new medium. (They sure didn't cover that in my marketing class when I was in school.) And there's all that hype on the Internet - so called web marketing gurus who've made millions online. But guess what? The only thing they've ever sold is reports and e-books on - what else - "how to market on the Internet." They've never packed and shipped a box or ran down the street after the UPS guy.But what if there was a formula you could follow, a step-by-step guide to creating an online sales machine? After 10 years of marketing and selling on the web, I've boiled it down to a winning eight-step formula. This formula works for any web business, for any product from amber gemstone jewelry to zebra-print home accessories. In a nutshell, the eight no-fail steps of this formula are:
Define Your Goals: With no clearly defined purpose, your web site can't succeed. Be specific with each goal, adding both an amount and a timeframe.
Take a Snapshot: How's your web site performing now? Know your traffic stats and your "three magic numbers."
Define Your Market: Who are you talking to? Be specific about who your products are for, and where these customers exist.
Get Them There: Build targeted web traffic by getting your target audience's attention and creating an ongoing dialog.
Turn Site Visitors into Customers: Once you've gotten them to your web site, make sure you seal the deal before they leave. Know what they're looking for, and what information they need to make a purchasing decision. Give it to them, then ask for the sale.
Increase Their Spending: Would you like some fries with that hamburger? Since they've got their wallet open, ask for the add-on or upsell.
Get Them Back: It's cheaper to get an old customer to buy again than it is to recruit a new one. Make the experience memorable, and make the next one convenient.
Get Their Friends: A happy customer can be your best sales tool. Empower them to spread the word about your products and web site.
When you work each of these steps, your e-commerce marketing can't fail.
I know how to get a blank stare from just about any e-commerce web site owner. All I have to do is ask them about their web site marketing plan!When I ask them about their web site marketing plan, I get that look. First the eyebrows go up. Then the eyes glaze over for a minute. And then the stammering begins."Uh, well, you know - I have my URL on my business card." "I, ah, I'm going to start an e-mail newsletter."Some of them may even mention something about "search engines."But practically no one has a plan! And you know how the old saying goes: "Failure to plan is a plan to fail."Most small business owners I talk to are frustrated. They think their web site is a big waste of money. An "online business card." A "marketing expense" that doesn't return any of its investment. And no wonder:You've spent thousands on a pretty web design. You shell out dough each and every month for web site hosting. You may even be paying a webmaster to update the web site regularly. And month after month, year after year, the sales barely trickle in.Marketing your web site is frustrating. It's confusing! So we end up doing what all of us do when we're frustrated and confused: deal with it "later." And later never comes.Know what? It's not your fault! No one ever taught you how to market on the Internet, this new medium. (They sure didn't cover that in my marketing class when I was in school.) And there's all that hype on the Internet - so called web marketing gurus who've made millions online. But guess what? The only thing they've ever sold is reports and e-books on - what else - "how to market on the Internet." They've never packed and shipped a box or ran down the street after the UPS guy.But what if there was a formula you could follow, a step-by-step guide to creating an online sales machine? After 10 years of marketing and selling on the web, I've boiled it down to a winning eight-step formula. This formula works for any web business, for any product from amber gemstone jewelry to zebra-print home accessories. In a nutshell, the eight no-fail steps of this formula are:
Define Your Goals: With no clearly defined purpose, your web site can't succeed. Be specific with each goal, adding both an amount and a timeframe.
Take a Snapshot: How's your web site performing now? Know your traffic stats and your "three magic numbers."
Define Your Market: Who are you talking to? Be specific about who your products are for, and where these customers exist.
Get Them There: Build targeted web traffic by getting your target audience's attention and creating an ongoing dialog.
Turn Site Visitors into Customers: Once you've gotten them to your web site, make sure you seal the deal before they leave. Know what they're looking for, and what information they need to make a purchasing decision. Give it to them, then ask for the sale.
Increase Their Spending: Would you like some fries with that hamburger? Since they've got their wallet open, ask for the add-on or upsell.
Get Them Back: It's cheaper to get an old customer to buy again than it is to recruit a new one. Make the experience memorable, and make the next one convenient.
Get Their Friends: A happy customer can be your best sales tool. Empower them to spread the word about your products and web site.
When you work each of these steps, your e-commerce marketing can't fail.
Building a Better Brick-and-Mortar with the Billion-dollar Web
By: Donald Lee
More than $117 billion passed hands from Internet shoppers to Internet vendors in 2004, according to the statistical research firm comScore. That's billion, with a B. Compared to the year before, the figure represents a whopping 24 percent increase in sales. Compared to the early 1990s, when the Web was a questionable commercial venture, today's $117 billion is proof-positive that the Web is the full-fledged money-making machine. It seems to be a big enough pie that any merchant with a Web site can cut out his heaping slice.Not so fast. As any merchant who's tried to take a bite out of the Internet will tell you, turning a profit online is not as simple as throwing a few pages together. Professional Web sites cost big bucks for design, consultation, and upkeep. Either you have to hire a full-time editor or technician to manage your Web store, or you need to pay three-digit hourly rates to contract Web professionals. Then you have to face fees for Web hosting, broadband access, and IT maintenance.Even after you expend all of this capital and launch your Web site, you're still not guaranteed anything. Your site will only be one among millions, if not billions. Yes, that's billions with a B again. The Internet, after all, is like a clear sky on a dark night. How can you expect a customer to pick your star out from among all of the others that shimmer for their attention?On the Web you'll quickly learn that attracting your clientele-and building your Internet-based business-is just as tough as it was when you first started your brick-and-mortar shop. It takes smart investing, creative marketing, a little luck, and a lot more know-how.What's great about the business side of the Web, however, is that your old-fashioned know-how translates quite well on the Web. A great example is the timeless merchant adage: "Location, location, location." This saying holds true on the Web, too. You can place your store's site in a spot on the Web where no one will discover you, or you could position it on a "busy corner" on the Internet.One such spot are online classified sites. These sites provide similar services as you would get from a newspaper classified. Sellers can place ads online that describe a particular product for sale. Buyers browse these ads and contact sellers when they're interested. Online classifieds, though, are far more dynamic. They allow a merchant to display dozens, if not hundreds, of their goods with pictures and descriptions. And believe it or not, some online classified sites allow you to do this for free. Yes, that's free with an F.The benefits don't stop there. As a merchant on a classified site, you can enjoy:
A store that never closes. Your goods are for sale 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The Internet never turns off.
A mall of online shoppers. Think of a classified site as a virtual shopping mall, with your grouping of ads under your own virtual storefront. By having a storefront, this allows you to have your own web page and listings, under the umbrella of the classified site.
A chain reaction of shopping. "Real" shoppers go to a mall to visit one store, but often they end up browsing through all of the stores in the mall. The same is true of virtual shoppers. Even when they visit a classified site looking for one particular thing, they're likely to "spill over" to your storefront out of curiosity. At the very least, it leads to advertising for your store; at best, business.
An advantage over pure Web merchants. Your classified site will pit you against wily online vendors who only sell their wares on the Web. This is where your brick-and-mortar business comes in handy. It's proven that shoppers seem to trust online merchants that have a real address and a real store somewhere.
A solution to the intricacies of the Internet. Many classified sites can help with setting up your ads and with designing your storefront, providing you with instant IT IQ. For your buyers, the sites offer the security that Web shoppers demand to protect them from identify theft and fraud. As mentioned before, many classified sites charge absolutely nothing for all of these benefits. The listings, the shopping traffic, the sense of business community, the advertising-you receive all of these perks for free. Oh, and don't forget your piece of the $117 billion dollar pie.
More than $117 billion passed hands from Internet shoppers to Internet vendors in 2004, according to the statistical research firm comScore. That's billion, with a B. Compared to the year before, the figure represents a whopping 24 percent increase in sales. Compared to the early 1990s, when the Web was a questionable commercial venture, today's $117 billion is proof-positive that the Web is the full-fledged money-making machine. It seems to be a big enough pie that any merchant with a Web site can cut out his heaping slice.Not so fast. As any merchant who's tried to take a bite out of the Internet will tell you, turning a profit online is not as simple as throwing a few pages together. Professional Web sites cost big bucks for design, consultation, and upkeep. Either you have to hire a full-time editor or technician to manage your Web store, or you need to pay three-digit hourly rates to contract Web professionals. Then you have to face fees for Web hosting, broadband access, and IT maintenance.Even after you expend all of this capital and launch your Web site, you're still not guaranteed anything. Your site will only be one among millions, if not billions. Yes, that's billions with a B again. The Internet, after all, is like a clear sky on a dark night. How can you expect a customer to pick your star out from among all of the others that shimmer for their attention?On the Web you'll quickly learn that attracting your clientele-and building your Internet-based business-is just as tough as it was when you first started your brick-and-mortar shop. It takes smart investing, creative marketing, a little luck, and a lot more know-how.What's great about the business side of the Web, however, is that your old-fashioned know-how translates quite well on the Web. A great example is the timeless merchant adage: "Location, location, location." This saying holds true on the Web, too. You can place your store's site in a spot on the Web where no one will discover you, or you could position it on a "busy corner" on the Internet.One such spot are online classified sites. These sites provide similar services as you would get from a newspaper classified. Sellers can place ads online that describe a particular product for sale. Buyers browse these ads and contact sellers when they're interested. Online classifieds, though, are far more dynamic. They allow a merchant to display dozens, if not hundreds, of their goods with pictures and descriptions. And believe it or not, some online classified sites allow you to do this for free. Yes, that's free with an F.The benefits don't stop there. As a merchant on a classified site, you can enjoy:
A store that never closes. Your goods are for sale 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The Internet never turns off.
A mall of online shoppers. Think of a classified site as a virtual shopping mall, with your grouping of ads under your own virtual storefront. By having a storefront, this allows you to have your own web page and listings, under the umbrella of the classified site.
A chain reaction of shopping. "Real" shoppers go to a mall to visit one store, but often they end up browsing through all of the stores in the mall. The same is true of virtual shoppers. Even when they visit a classified site looking for one particular thing, they're likely to "spill over" to your storefront out of curiosity. At the very least, it leads to advertising for your store; at best, business.
An advantage over pure Web merchants. Your classified site will pit you against wily online vendors who only sell their wares on the Web. This is where your brick-and-mortar business comes in handy. It's proven that shoppers seem to trust online merchants that have a real address and a real store somewhere.
A solution to the intricacies of the Internet. Many classified sites can help with setting up your ads and with designing your storefront, providing you with instant IT IQ. For your buyers, the sites offer the security that Web shoppers demand to protect them from identify theft and fraud. As mentioned before, many classified sites charge absolutely nothing for all of these benefits. The listings, the shopping traffic, the sense of business community, the advertising-you receive all of these perks for free. Oh, and don't forget your piece of the $117 billion dollar pie.
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