When I first began doing business on the Internet
in 1997, I believed a widely circulating rumor that
all one had to do to become successful (and,
wealthy) was to build a web site.
Well, after doing so and, repeatedly, making
mistakes and failing, I quickly became
depressed with online marketing. Being
accustomed to accomplishing many, if not most,
things I set out to do (except 8th-Grade Algebra),
I figured I had finally met my match. I also figured
that I must simply be the only person online not
making a 6-figure income. Oh, the price of
naivete!
Fueling this idea, were ongoing unsolicited
Emails from others who, alternatively, stated
they were raking in hundreds of thousands of
dollars per year. Some were even willing to
(and did) provide "checks" as proof! Today, I'm
embarrassed to admit to my naivete, as I now
realize that, given the right tools, virtually anything
can be fabricated online.
In an effort to save you from emotional woes, or
relieve you of them if you have already
encountered them, I am going to provide you with
information on how you can realistically garner
success online as I have now, successfully, three
years later.
And you, likewise, can use these same methods
to successfully promote any product, service, or
information online as well. So, let's get started...
1.Pre-Promotion Campaign - Prior to beginning
your active promotion campaign, initiate a pre-
promotion campaign by joining as many
online discussion lists relating to your area of
business as possible.
You should be able to easily find such lists at
"Egroups.com" (http://www.egroups.com),
"Topica.com" (http://www.topica.com), Listbot
(http://www.listbot.com), or a few other lesser-
known list groups.
Next, place a reference to whatever you wish to
promote, within your Email signature file so that
when you post notices, questions, concerns, or
answers to your lists, information regarding your
business will automatically post along with it in
your signature file as well for others to see and,
hopefully, acquire what you are promoting within
it.
Your signature file reference should contain an
attention-grabbing headline, along with a 4-5-line
text of information regarding your business.
Review the "Help" section of your Email software
or manual in order to learn how to set up your
signature file correctly.
2. News Releases - Pull up your favorite search
engine(s) and search for "news sites," "news
posts," or any related term. What you are
seeking, are sites that allow posting of news
releases and notices regarding your business,
products, services, information, ventures, etc.
These are very detailed and instructional on how
to get your information posted within them. One
of the most recognizable sites is the Internet
News Bureau, which requires a fee. However,
there are other sites, many of which are free,
as well.
Also, forward news releases to the editors of any
online ezines, as well as offline magazines, most
of which will have web sites as well. You can also
locate most of these through search engines by
searching on the term, "ezines." Popular sites
for offline publications include the AJR Newslink
at http://ajr.newslink.org, and Gebbie's Press at
http://www.gebbieinc.com.
3. Articles - If you are familiar fairly well with
various details of your business (and you should
be), consider the idea of providing tips,
shortcuts, advice, and any additional helpful
information to editors of ezines and magazines.
There are also databanks, whereby, you can
list your articles for other publishers and editors
to freely use with the condition that they maintain
your byline with your article to insure credit to you.
One such databank is at
http://www.ideamarketers.com, and there are
more.
Ongoing content is the primary need at any
publication. At the end of your article, include a
notice that is commonly known in the publishing
industry as a "by-line." This is actually
2-tools-in-1. First, the content of the article itself,
then, the byline containing information regarding
your own business, product, service, or
information.
4. Search Engines - List, not only the main or
home page of your web site with the search
engines, but also your additional pages, as long
as they are different and titled accordingly.
Doing this, will dramatically increase the traffic
to your site. In fact, at some point, you should
experience an increase geometrically.
5. Announcement Sites - This is a 1-shot
opportunity, so make it good. What you want to
do at announcement sites, is to provide the most
attention-getting information you possibly can for
your venture, as you can, generally, only do this
once for new start-up businesses. Two popular
announcement sites are the "What's New" and
the "What's New Too" sites.
6. Announcement Lists - There also exists Email
announcement lists, much like announcement
sites, whereby, you can provide notices and
posts regarding your product, service, or
information.
The main difference, however, is that as
announcement sites only allow for a 1-time post,
announcement lists, contrastly, allow postings
periodically and, generally, on a weekly or
monthly basis. You can also find these at the
Egroups, Topica, and Listbot sites.
7. Ezine Ads - Ezine ads are great, as long as
their publications contain high enough
circulations to warrant the CPM (Cost Per
Thousand) readers. However, the drawback is
that many readers pass them by, naturally, having
more interest in the content of the publication.
Additionally, ads tend to get "lost" in publications
that publish a high number of ads in issues. In
most cases in the offline-publishing world, an
ideal CPM rate is 10,000 readers per $1.00
spent. Try for this same ratio in your Ezine ads as
well. A great resource for advertising in ezines is
the Ezine Directory (http://www.ezinedirectory.com).
8. Publisher Swaps - This promotion method is
exclusive to Ezine and newsletter publishers,
and is, whereby, publishers trade ads with each
other to be placed in their respective publications
in the effort of gaining new subscribers.
Successful ad swaps can provide dramatic
increases in the subscriber base of your own
publications. The Ezine Directory should provide
some, if not all, information regarding it. Or, you
can use the directory's content to contact
publishers with a "swap proposal."
9. Opt-In Direct Email - To "opt-in" means to
voluntarily accept information or notices via
Email from outside sources regarding particular
interests that you have. There are, literally, millions
of people online who are members of such lists.
As a business owner interested in promoting
your product, service, or information, you rent
such a list from the opt-in service, providing your
sales letter or material to the service, then
allowing the information to be sent via Email by
the service to the list members you have
selected.
This is the popular and preferred alternative to
unsolicited bulk emailing or "spamming." Once
a list is mailed, your response is almost
immediate.
The interested responders then purchase your
offer, or request more information, at which time,
you should have an auto responder already set
up to "feedback" more sales literature. An auto
responder is an automated Email address that,
when accessed, returns certain pre-input
information.
Once purchases are made, these particular list
buyers then become your own customers, and
you can usually provide them with similar follow-
up products, services, or information in the future
without re-renting their name from the list. The
most widely known is Postmaster Direct at
http://www.postmasterdirect.com.
These are the methods and techniques that I
have found to be realistic, sound and, most
importantly, successful. They are applicable to
anything that lends itself commercially viable,
whether it is a product, service, or information.
About the Author
Kenny Love Enterprises.
Provider of diversified information, products, and
resources. See his extensive web site at
http://www.kennylove.net.