Unconventional Traffic Strategies
Here is a free report that will teach some unconventional methods to drive traffic to your sites. Some of the tactics you may have some knowledge of, but not the details to make it work effectively. So take about 15 minutes to read this report and put some of these strategies into place.
Traffic Strategies is a give-away, so feel free to give it away too.
Enjoy!
Why Should I Blog?
Blogs have become more and more popular with each passing day. Virtually everyone has a blog on some topic, whether it is on business, politics, education, sports, Internet marketing, etc.It’s easier than ever to start your own blog. However, you may be asking yourself: “WHY should I start my own blog?”
There are many reasons for starting your own blog. One reason is because you can provide additional information to your customers, subscribers, and website visitors about your products and services, information you might not include in a typical sales letter or may not have thought of putting in your sales letter.
In fact, you could create a thread on your blog for questions and answers regarding your product or service, and when someone asks a new question, you can provide an up-to-date answer, something you’d never be able to do in a sales letter.
Plus, up-to-date answers may not be that practical to do on your website, so doing it on your blog may be the best approach.
This leads to another benefit of blogging – you can show your subscribers and website visitors that you are a real person, not just some faceless unknown online!
While purchasing on the Internet is becoming more of the norm than it was just a few years ago, many are still leery of giving out their personal information online and many are still leery of making a bad purchase.
By conversing with them, sharing some of your own thoughts, feelings, and happenings in your life, caring about their well-being, and addressing their concerns and questions, you can ease their concerns and make it that much more likely that they will purchase from you.
In addition, they’ll know that you’ll be there to help them if they have a problem or if they want to return your product, making it all the more likely they’ll purchase from you.
Often, the difference between those who gain the sales and those who don’t are the ones that show genuine interest in their potential customers and subscribers – by blogging regularly, you can keep in constant contact with your subscribers so that they keep you in mind and feel closer to you so that they’ll purchase products from you and not from someone else.
Another benefit of blogging is that you can show your expertise in your field, which will also increase your chances of people coming to you for advice, for purchasing products, and for JV proposals.
By blogging about topics related to your field, you will indirectly promote yourself as someone who is interested and knows what is going in your field, which will likely convince your target market that you are “the” expert they should turn to for advice and for purchasing the products they want.
Another benefit you can gain from blogging is by linking that blog to your website – this way, all the extra links to your website will help to boost your site’s search engine rankings. Plus, those who just happen to stumble onto your blog can find your website if you link your blog to it.
Another benefit of blogging is RSS (Rich Site Summary or Real Simple Syndication.) This is a type of code embedded in blogs (along with podcasts and news headlines) that allow people to subscribe to your blog so that they are alerted of any updates you make to your blog.
That way, they’ll never miss an update and will always be kept informed of any new information and services you provide.
In addition, by blogging regularly, it’s likely that your subscribers will subscribe to your RSS feed and/or check your blog frequently for updates; unlike email that can get lost due to the SPAM filters, people will never miss your updates if you post them on your blog.
In addition, RSS feeds do not get infected with viruses like emails can, making it safer for people to stay updated with the latest information from you. Plus, you will likely get more regular traffic to your blog and your website if you encourage your subscribers and website visitors to visit your blog frequently by updating it regularly.
Blogging itself is easier to keep up-to-date than a typical website, especially if you are not well-versed in HTML.
Blogging software makes it very easy for even the least technical person to get out his/her thoughts. Plus, for those not interested in spending a lot to have a web presence, blogging can provide a cheaper alternative. As you can see, blogging can provide you with many benefits:
- Gives you a cheaper option to having a website presence.
- Enables you to have more of a personal presence with your subscribers and website visitors.
- Gives your subscribers and visitors an easier, quicker, and safer way of staying updated with the latest news and information from you.
- Boosts your website in the search engine rankings.
Having a blog gives you many benefits and is easy to start and maintain, so if you haven’t already started your own blog, consider doing so today and reap the benefits!
Many people share similar views about why you should blog:
- Many consultants ask if they should jump into blogging to add power to their market presence. Blogs certainly are pervasive. In fact, if you listen to the experts, you get the impression that everyone should be blogging. … - At this point, the question is more “Why aren’t you Blogging?” There are blogs on every topic. Really. In every conceivable style and opinion. As a business, your blog says something about your company. It creates a voice and tone about … - Because,. 1. Blogging is a way of self-expression. 2. Blogging can stimulate creativity. 3. Blogging is a good means for reporting and documenting interesting news. 4. Blogging brings in different perspectives … |
The History of Blogging
A blog is defined by Wikipedia to be “a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order.” In fact, the word “blog” is a shortened form of the phrase “web log,” or a log that is posted on the web.
Early weblogs were just manually updated components of common websites; however, due to the evolution of tools to facilitate the production and maintenance of web articles in reverse chronological order for these weblogs, the publishing process became simple enough for the less technically-inclined population. This led to the type of online publishing that blogs are known for today.
At first, around 1998-1999, blogs were used as online diaries, where one could discuss whatever news he/she wanted to discuss on whatever topic(s) he/she chose to talk about. Often, this would be about the daily happenings in one’s lives, so blogs were updated quite often. However, over the next few years, the technology continued to advance, making blogs that much easier to publish.
Browser-based software was created that enabled virtually anyone to create his/her own blog and post it online easily. Different blog hosting services, web hosting services, and blog software (such as WordPress, Movable Type, blogger.com, and LiveJournal, among others) utilized this advancement to further give people more options to create their blogs.
In addition, blogging combined the personal web page with tools to make linking to other pages easier.
Permalinks, blogrolls, TrackBacks, and weblog search engines enabled people to connect to other people who shared similar interests. They would often link to each other’s blogs as a way to make online friendships and stay in touch with each other. However, by 2001, blogs started to be used for more than just online diaries or journals. Instead, many American blogs started talking about American politics.
Andrew Sullivan’s blog The Daily Dish, and Taegan Goddard’s blog Political Wire, were two political blogs that first appeared in 2001. Many blogs started providing information on how to accomplish different tasks. They also became known as “how-to manuals.”
Changes like these led to the increased importance of blogs in our society, as well as an increased connection to the “outside world.” In fact, many credit bloggers as the main reason why U.S. Senator Trent Lott had to step down as U.S. Senate Majority Leader, due to his controversial comments that suggested America would have been better off if fellow Senator Strom Thurmond had become the President of the United States back in 1948.
This was controversial due to the fact that Thurmond supported racial segregation during his presidential campaign. Despite media members being at the public event where Lott had made those comments, none of them reported the story.
It wasn’t until bloggers got wind of it and reported it did the mass media start to report it, hence showing the increased importance of bloggers and their ability to present information quickly to the rest of the world.
Further evidence and acceptance by the mass media was when bloggers declared the documents presented by CBS News’ Dan Rather on President George W. Bush’s military service record to be forgeries, eventually leading to Rather’s dismissal as head anchor of the CBS EVening News.
Bloggers providing information on the news via their blogs wasn’t the only way bloggers were providing information. Internet marketers and online websites determined that they could spread their marketing messages via their own blogs.
In addition, it would also allow them to communicate more personally with their customers and website visitors, both in an attempt to learn what they want from those businesses and websites, as well as show that Internet marketers and online companies had a human element to them and weren’t just faceless businesses, which would also help convince people to do business with them.
Today, there are blogs on virtually every type of subject, from politics and sports to gardening and business.
Knowledgeable people on these topics have found a medium where they can express themselves and educate others without having to be employed by a news agency or without leaving the comfort of their homes. Businesses and politicians can write about what defines them and why people should buy from or support them.
Blogs have come a long way over the last few decades, going from personal diary web logs that weren’t easy to post online and update to personal web spaces that talk about anything from sports to politics to breaking news. The advancement in technology has allowed virtually anyone to be able to post a blog online about anything he/she chooses.
Blogging has also become a very important part of our world, helping to shape it via the opinions of those writers who report breaking news, provide political analysis, or offer sports commentary.
For more history on blogging, check out the following:
| 7 Milestones in the History of Blogging - A history of how blogging got to the point it is now. History of Blogging What is a blog? |
Is It Better To Be Really Interested In The Niche You Are Serving Or Not?
Niche marketing is one of the most popular and profitable forms of Internet marketing today. There are many niche markets out there, and more coming into existence everyday. The possibilities and potential are virtually limitless.However, one should consider very carefully which niche one goes into, not only because the niche has to be profitable in order to build a business around it, but also on whether you will remain interested in that niche to serve it long-term.
To really succeed at Internet marketing, you have to be able to provide a constant stream of products over a period of time; you’re not likely going to get rich and retire from just one product, unless it’s EXTREMELY successful and you can really earn off of it for many, many years. This is a rare occurrence so you really should not expect this to happen, but kudos to you if it does 
Speaking of creating a constant stream of products, John Delavera, the master writer and software inventor, wrote a post on his blog that explains the real meaning behind having your own products. Please read it by clicking here. Okay so back to how to succeed at internet marketing. You have to ask yourself questions such as the following:
- How interested am I in this niche?
- Will I want to keep providing to this niche a year or two from now?
- How easy will it be for me to come up with products for this niche?
As well, your niche market will likely expect you to provide more products in that same niche for the foreseeable future, as they will come to see you as an expert if your first product is useful and successful. The question is, are you prepared to meet that expectation? There are two different schools of thought regarding this issue: some Internet marketers believe that any profitable niche can be profitable for anyone who is willing to apply sound Internet marketing methods, especially those that relate to niche marketing. It doesn’t matter if you have much interest or experience in the niche or not.
However, there are those Internet marketers who believe that you will likely be more successful if you are passionate about that niche, and preferably, have some prior knowledge of that niche before you begin serving it. Or at the very least, take an active interest in learning as much as you can about that niche so you can serve it better as you become more knowledgeable about it.
The reason why is because pumping out product after product to a specialized niche is not easy, and it’s not cheap either, especially if you are outsourcing the tasks of writing the material to someone else. This is a main reason why the Internet marketers who believe you can make money from any profitable niche, regardless of interest or experience, believe this – you yourself don’t have to write the material, so your level of interest and experience in the niche doesn’t really matter. You just have to find the right “expert” to write your material for you, both for your newsletters and your product. All you have to worry about is marketing your products and business.
While this can be done, it will likely be more expensive in terms of money if you have to keep paying experts to supply the material for your newsletters and products.However, those Internet marketers who believe that passion is an important component in being able to profit from a niche believe that having a passion for that niche will enable you to stay enthusiastic about writing a recurring newsletter, creating products, marketing, and learning more about that niche.
Just like in life itself, work feels like work when you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, whereas work doesn’t feel like work if you enjoy what you’re doing.
If you enjoy learning about, researching, and writing about a particular niche, it will likely be easier to keep track of recent developments in that niche, write about those developments and other material in your recurring newsletter, and provide new products that will satisfy that niche market for the foreseeable future.There are solid arguments on both sides of this issue, and only you can make that choice on whether it’s important to have an active interest in the profitable niche you are marketing to or not.
However, it is a question you do need to consider before entering a niche, as you will likely be expected to serve it for the foreseeable future, especially if you want to have a successful career in online marketing.
Are you willing to pay out more money to experts in your niche so they can supply the material for your newsletters and products, or are you willing to take an active interest in your niche so that you can write your own material for your newsletters and products?
Along with determining whether a niche is profitable or not, this is a question that you must answer.
Niche Marketing-Give Them Exactly What They Ask For
Niche Marketing is the art of giving people exactly what they want. After you find a potential niche using tools such as Google and WordTracker, you still have to test that market to see exactly what type of product offer will solve their current problems.
If you don’t provide the “right” offer to this potential market, the niche will not be profitable for you, regardless of its potential.
Therefore, you have to determine exactly what problems this niche market is facing, what solutions are already out there, what is good about these current solutions, and what is lacking in those solutions that need to be present in your offer so that it will be perceived as a better offer for their problems.
To find out the answers to these questions, you have to conduct some research on that niche market. There are several ways to go about doing this.
One way is to ask people already in that industry or market what problems they are looking to solve and what features and benefits the current solutions already out on the market are lacking. This way, you can tailor your offer to include those features and benefits that the current solutions don’t have.
You should also determine what the market does like in those current solutions so you can make sure your offer also has those beneficial features and benefits.
You can also go to established websites in that market to see for ourselves what type of offers they are offering. You can check out what types of products they offer (ebook, MP3, audio, video, etc.,) what bonuses they include with them, what prices they are selling them for, how their websites look, and any testimonials they post related to their products and service as a way to gain helpful insight on who your competitors are and how you can differentiate your offer from theirs.
A really easy way of determining what will satisfy the niche market is to hang out in forums dedicated to your niche market. In today’s world, there is at least one online forum for virtually every niche market out there.
See what they are talking about at those forums, including what problems they are having, what offers they are using to solve their current problems, how well those solutions are solving their current problems, and what features and benefits they are still looking for in future offers. This way, you can determine from prospective customers what problems they are still facing and what features and benefits they’d like to see in future product offers.
Utilizing this information from these different sources, you can develop or find a product offer with the features and benefits the market is looking for. However, to make sure that this offer will satisfy the market’s demands, you should again TEST the market to see if it will respond to your offer like you think it will. The following methods can help you test the market after you have developed or obtained your product offer.
You can provide complimentary copies (if you are legally able to do so,) to people in that niche market in return for their honest feedback on your offer. This way, you can find out what they like about it and what they feel needs to be improved in order to satisfy the needs of the market.
Another way to determine whether your offer will satisfy the niche market is to set up a simple webpage with a subscription form that asks a few questions about your offer. In return, you provide them with a valuable reward, such as a short report, another of your products, or a coupon code that gives them a discount on your offer. You should use a pay-per-click search engine in order to drive targeted traffic to that page, as targeted traffic is needed in order to provide the best feedback about that niche market and the best feedback on whether your current offer will satisfy the desires of that market.
Even after you have found a potentially profitable niche market, you still will likely need to test and tweak your offer in order to be able to satisfy the demands of the niche market you are serving.
It’s important to remember that just because you’ve found a potentially profitable niche, you still have to have a strong demand for your offer in order to profit from it, and in order to find out what the niche market is looking for, that will take some research. Even after developing or obtaining an offer that will seemingly meet their needs, you need to continue your research to make sure the offer is as good as can be. If it isn’t, you need to tweak and improve the offer as much as you can based on the feedback you receive in order to profit the most from that niche market and to be considered as the person who can best satisfy their desires in the future.
