Thursday, April 30, 2009

Blog Marketing Tactics On Twitter

Twitter has been around for some time and the reactions are extreme. People are joining it by the millions and there are raving fans out there who spend a couple of hours on the twitter a day. In fact twitter may be the only site which has led to a sort of addiction amongst the twitter followers. With all this going for twitter what could be a better source of traffic than twitter.

You can drive traffic by the tons provided you have an interesting site or blog. Twitter is the most unconventional source of traffic and if you want to ignore it do so at your own peril.

First a lttle about Twitter. Twitter is microblogging platform for social networking. You can send messages to your followers and recieve messages from friends or people who follow you. The entire content is user generated.

Your message has a limitation of only 140 characters and whatever you want to say has to very short and sweet including your link. Anyone can create a free account and import their entire contact to twitter or search and follow other twitter users based on location, interest and business. Messages or updates are sent to all followers. In the twitter parlance such messages are called tweets and can be recieved on the site or through mobile web applications, RSS feeds and Facebook.

Twitter is unlike any other social networking website. It goes far beyond just connectiong with a few people. It can be so much more. When properly used, Twitter can become an effective internet marketing tool. The first step is to create a free account and develop a list of followers. You can start following the updates of members, who may also return the favor. Thereafter you can engage is all kinds of conversations with different people. You could converse about your day, your business, ask questions and get answers or simply recommend your products and services.

Once you have registered start developing a friend and follower network on based on your interests. Twitter has an interesting search engine where you can search for posts with keywords related to your interests. In fact the grapevine is already talking about the twitter search engine emerging as a competitor to Google Search.

While marketing your blog or website your first thought may be to make a quick post introducing your blog. Yes, you can do this, but don’t let you first post be an advertisement. Instead, send a quick hello. Explain you are getting used to the Twitter website and thank your followers for joining you. This establishes a personal connection. You do not want your followers to feel right from the start that they are used solely for the purpose of advertising.

For your next Tweet, start working your blog into the mix. All twitter posts start with answering the question what you are doing, say “I am updating my blog. Check it out if you want,” and provide a link. This not only answers the Twitter question, but will also generate interest. Your followers will want to know your interests; therefore, they will click on your blog link. While there, they may end with a business transactyion. This is great, but first focus is to increase page views.

To get the involvement of the followers or friends it is important that you should adopt innovative and unique approaches. For example, does your blog share tips on how to save money. If so, giveaway a free eBook on the subject for your followers who answer a few questions. People love free stuff. A contest should generate organic clicks on your blog, but it makes good content for Tweets. Send an update telling your followers that you just added a contest to your blog and that they should participate.

You can regularly update by answering the question 'What are you doing?' This could include your published articles, interesting news and tit bits on the chosen interest area of your followers and friends, your blog posts and sometimes even some of your personal activities. Aside from sending updates, you may also participate in the converstions that is going on between your friends and send @replies.

Subtlety is the key to attract, retail and divert traffic to your sites and blogs. While at Twitter you can look for questions that you can answer with a plug to your blog. @replies are nice, especially when responding to a specific question, as you are not sending an unsolicited advisement. Instead, you are sending advice.

As for why you should market your blog on Twitter, it has to do with communication. That is what Twitter is about, encouraging, short but meaningful conversations. Users want to feel like they made a new friend, not like they are being pursued as a consumer.

Happy Tweets!

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Sunday, April 26, 2009

Leveraging The Long Tail To Create Online Demand

Chris Anderson, author of “The Long Tail,” hypothesizes that even though classic marketing assumes that 80% of sales come from 20% of your customers, chasing “the long tail” of customers not in that 20% can be a viable online strategy. That's because online businesses are great at providing choice, something that physical brick-and-mortar stores can't stock or inventory the same way since they are not virtual enterprises. But, is chasing the long tail still a good strategy in a recession where consumer demand is dropping drastically?

The Long Tail In A Recession

Yes, it is a good idea to think about chasing the long tail. The reasons for that are two-fold: Physical retailers are already reducing inventory and dropping choices and online retailers don't have to stock or inventory a selection or choice in order to offer it. So, the same reason that makes it unthinkable for physical retailers makes it a great choice for online merchants. After all, demand may be slowing for the best sellers, but the long tail is not about best sellers; it's about personal preference. When a consumer has a personal preference for a particular product or service, they will look to get that choice fulfilled regardless of the cost, even in a down economy. And, even if a retailer offers this choice in their physical stores, an online business is better suited to drop the price on it because they are not keeping their stock in physical inventory. They are doing “just-in-time” demand fulfillment.

Look Up Affiliates, Partners, and Order Fulfillment Services

In order to capitalize on this strategy, there is a bit more upfront market research. You want to locate affiliates, partners, and order fulfillment services that can help you market the long tail without necessarily having to create products yourself or ship them. That way, they can remain in other people's physical inventory until you get an order and are ready to fulfill that order. If you line up a great team of suppliers who you can use to create a vast choice, then you will create demand where there was none because you are offering something in one place that few others are able to do offline. If you make it easy to search online, then you create the ability for the customer to service his/her own needs and to exactly specify their preferences.

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Saturday, April 18, 2009

Is Your Internet Marketing Value Driven?

Value Offered Is Money Made On Internet

In Online marketing the most important principle to remember is the concept of value. Online businesses have to work harder to attract loyal customers due to the very nature of the World Wide Web where competition could run into thousands if not millions. You may be offering the highest-quality product, but your customers are flocking to your competitor because they offer the best value. Now here is the principle of value. Value isn't just about quality if that quality comes at too high a price. Value is a balance of price, product quality, and the benefits of the purchase. So, while you are thinking that making the best product will sell in a down economy, it might or it might not. It all depends on the way you've marketed that product to exemplify the best versus the cost.

Actual Value To Perceived Value

All products in the online marketplace have an intrinsic value that can be brought to the fore by good internet marketing practices. The idea is to understand your targeted customer and solve problems that they need addressed. If you can do that, you are creating value in terms of benefits. If your solution is way over and above what they expected, the perceived value may increase, depending on the cost. Now here is the key. Do not spend too much time on explaining the features but let the message carry the benefits. If you are able to provide exceptional quality products at a reduced cost, you are providing a very high-value offer. But, even then, quality is subjective, in many cases, and that can also be influenced to create more demand.

Info Products Are A Good Place To Start

Info products are a great way to provide high-quality, low-cost offers that demonstrate a high-perceived value. The reason for this is that it takes very little time and money to create info products. You can always sign up for or buy master reseller rights and quickly spin them into your own products, and through the magic of the Internet, they can be duplicated and delivered endlessly. So, the manufacturing cost is quite low, and thus, you can bundle many info products into one offer to create high-value packages without any additional costs on your part. The most online tool to market such bundles is the OTO or the One Time Offers And, you can also deliver them instantly over the Internet. Apart from high value online customers are looking for instant gratification. Offers that triggers instant satisfaction by way of immediate downloads are now very popular.

Some Products Are More Suited To the Internet

Some market niches are better suited to the internet. Info product bundles with master resell rights are the most popular. The three principles to success in info product marketing is

1. High Quality.
2. Low Cost
3. Quick Delivery

If you can provide high quality, low cost, and quick delivery, then the Internet can be a great catalyst to jump your profits even in down turn. Just focus on products and services where you can manipulate the perceived value so that demand can remain constant or even increase during tough times. On the Internet, Value would continue to be the king and the key strategy for online marketing as well as offline marketing.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Some Fun Internet Laws

I have been an admirer and avid reader of Murphy's Laws. While sounding very contrary they are the ironical truth that we encounter everyday. I thought of writing some internet laws based on the concepts of Murphy's Laws. These were designed as twitter post within 140 characters and helped me build (I think)a following of over 650 friends.

These internet laws would surely help you to relax from the strenuous internet marketing efforts of building all those web pages, SEO work, Article marketing etc. So relax and have some fun.

Srinivasan's Internet Law 4 : 'Every new idea seems like the next million dollars till you find 100's doing the same without results'

Srinivasan's Internet Law 5 :Your earnings are disproportionate to time spent. Gurus make you believe otherwise.

Srinivasan's Internet Law 6: You will never fail to hit the delete button when you want to save important information

Srinivasan's Internet Law 7: New make money products will keep popping up to fill all the available credit card limits.

Srinivasan's Internet Law 8: The attention span of a website is only as long as it takes to load.

Srinivasan's Internet Law 9: All make money eproducts aimed at newbies can only be used by the newbies to make money for the product creator

Srinivasan's Internet Law 10: The Sales Page - Any simple sentence will be worded in the most complex way

Srinivasan's Internet Law 11: Invariably the servers crash when an internet guru launches a new product

Srinivasan's Internet Law 12: "Even a newby can make money in the next one hour"...for the product creator

Srinivasan's Internet Law 13: All great sites were never meant to be

Srinivasan Internet Law 14: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.


I lost the first three laws and watch out I may write some more internet laws.

Srinivasan Gopal
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Saturday, April 11, 2009

Working With Merchants for Your Affiliate Programs

Contacting the merchant of your favorite affiliate program is an ideal way to increase your sales, which can save you a lot of time and heartache. Once you contact the merchant, be sure to let them know what you are doing to promote their products, and ask for their advice when it comes to marketing. Many merchants provide an excellent array of affiliate tools such as banners, follow up emails, advertisements, Java Script to pull in different products from their product based on your keywords, an entire set of broad as well as specific keywords and even Adword ads. The merchant will know their product best, and they will have a good idea of the strategies that are being used by other affiliates to make sales. By contacting the merchant, you'll also show them that you are dedicated to succeeding with affiliate marketing. Contacting the merchant also shows your enthusiasm for marketing their products and services.

In most of the affiliate programs 5% of the affiliates generate 90% of the results. All merchant who knows affiliate marketing knows this fact well and would be happy to interact with the affiliates who take the trouble of contacting them. Good merchants recognize efforts of such affiliates and provide them with information and resources and may even boost their commission rates!

Recognizing the Quality of Merchants

Generally merchants would respond well to affiliates. If you email a merchant and they don't respond, you may try again. Merchants who do not respond to affiliate queries, may not be in business. One should think twice about promoting such affiliate partnerships, as lack of communication can indicate other problems as well - such as payments or disinterest. Keep in mind that many merchants make big promises, and set a high payout rate knowing well that their products do not meet customer requirements. They may also set high payout targets which very few affiliates will actually meet. This isn't a good way to do business, and you should avoid working with these types of merchants.

Communicating With The affiliate Program Merchants

All your communications with merchants should be done on a professional tone. If you have suggestions of how a merchant can improve their offers, you should let them know. Good merchants appreciate such feedback, and know that any feedback they receive can improve their programs.

Wise merchants always understand that good affiliates are hard to find and will treat them with respect, assist with resources, and be prompt with payments. Good affiliates act are the same way, and understand that merchants want quality promotion and sales performance. To get the most out of your partnership, you should always be professional and have excellent understanding with merchants. Good merchants are always busy, which may make them seem like they aren't that good. They will answer your questions and emails, although it may take them a little bit of time.

When you work with a merchant long enough you'll understand how they do things. If you are just starting out in affiliate marketing, a merchant can help you understand how things work. If you listen to them and show initiative, you'll be well on your way to making it to the top in your affiliate marketing business.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The Basic Monetised Blogging Advice

If you are anything like me, who wants to get into the online space without spending too much effort or money, then blogging is the right platform for you. A web log or simply a blog is the opportunity available to the average person to say what he wants to say, make himself heard and build his own following if what one says is valuable.

A blog is also an opportunity to make money if you just know the simple techniques that are illustrated in the blog program which you use. For example this is a blog on a blogger platform. You have the opportunity to monetize it through adsense for which you will be guided if you chose to do so.

A typical blog has the following components:

Post date -the date and time of the blog entry
Category - the category that the blog belongs to
Title - the title of the blog

Main body - the main content of the blog

RSS and trackback - links the blog back from other sites

Comments - commentaries that are added by readers

Permalinks - the URL of the full article

What are the type of blogs that You can create. I have given a list of broad categories. However you may find specific niches within these categories to make it more focussed and targeted if you plan to make it a professional monetized blog.

1. Political blog - on news, politics, activism, and other issue based blogs (such as campaigning).

2. Personal blog - also known as online diary that may include an individual's day-to-day experience, complaints, poems, and illicit thoughts, and communications between friends

3. Topical blog - with focus either on a particular niche (function or position) that is usually technical in nature or a local information

4. Health blog - on specific health issues. Medical blog is a major category of health blog that features medical news from health care professionals and/or actual patient cases

5. Literary blog - also known as litblog

6. Travel blog - with focus on a traveler's stories on a particular journey

7. Research blog - on academic issues such as research notes.

8. Legal blog - on law (technical areas) and legal affairs; also known as 'blawgs'.

9. Media blog - focus on falsehoods or inconsistencies in mass media; usually exclusive for a newspaper or a television network.

10. Religious blog - on religious topics

11. Educational blog - on educational applications, usually written by students and teachers

12. Collaborative or collective blog - a specific topic written by a group of people

13. Directory blog - contains a collection of numerous web sites

14. Business blog - used by entrepreneurs and corporate employees to promote their businesses or talk about their work

15. Personification blog - focus on non-human being or objects (such as dogs)

16. Spam blogs - used for promoting affiliated websites; also known as 'splogs'

If you are looking to monetize the blog, then you need to spend time on daily basis updating the blog with fresh content to make your visitors keep coming back for more info. You will also be listed and ranked better by search engines due to your regularity and fresh content. Fresh content is the food for search spiders.

But if you are too lazy to get into all these efforts then you can check out this guy who makes $40000.00 a month on just a blog.