Thursday, June 01, 2006

The Intimidation of Internet Marketing

I seem to spend a lot of time these days checking out what other people are doing in the form of online marketing and advertisement. At first glance, I was quite overwhelmed and impressed with what I was seeing! Some of these sites were HUGE! They may have hundreds of articles. The have dozens of reviews and commentary over a large wealth of products. Page Ranks around 5 and 6. Hundreds of thousands, if not MILLIONS, of visitors per day.

And then there is my website...a handful of reviews, a few articles, some nice commentary and quite a few useful tips on making money (http://www.thewebreviewer.com). But nothing in the league of these others. So should I just quit? HELL NO!

First of all, the internet is a VERY BIG PLACE and there are plenty of web surfers to share the wealth. If you look closely at these sites, they were not created yesterday, either. They have been around for years. Content takes time. And what about the few thousand visitors a get per month? That is MORE than enough to make affiliate sales or earn some advertising revenue. Remember that the big players fill a certain void while the little players (like us, at least for right now!) fill another void. I know that when I initially started to research the web for money making opportunities, it was the smaller sites that made more of an impression on me. The big sites rely more on quantity and advertising.

So remember, don't get discouraged if your website or blog is not as fancy, or big, or as popular as the others...it really doesn't matter! You WILL still make money if its content is good and in time, it can easily grow into the power-house that currently intimidates us online!

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Affiliate Marketing eBooks: Part I - A Waste of Money?

Yawn! The long weekend has really taken it's toll on me and I am pretty lazy today! Wake up, Matt and let's get back to business!

One thing I have been doing a lot these days has been reading eBooks...particularly eBooks focusing on affiliate marketing. So the question of today is: Are affiliate eBooks just a waste of money? The short answer is definitely not! The long answer is, let the buyer beware! I honestly feel that anyone who is ready and willing to give affiliate marketing a shot should by all means buy a book! A few reasons for this:

1) Trying to figure it out yourself can take a LONG time!

2) Trying to figure it out yourself not only can, but WILL cost you a lot of wasted money!

3) The resources, links and suggestions offered in many eBooks can be invaluable and very insightful.

I don't know about any of you, but I do not have a degree in business, economics, or marketing. Without the proper guidance, trying to compete with those who do can be pretty tough. A least with a little bit of instruction, you can avoid a lot of the disasters that are associated with marketing. A lot of these books hold your hand and give you an adequate description of marketing in order to be effective. And beyond the marketing aspect, there are plenty of little trade secrets that can propel you from being someone who sells nothing to a power-user.

But of course, not all eBooks are created the same. We'll cover that a bit tomorrow. Visit http://www.thewebreviewer.com for more details on some of the reviews I have conducted. (I am currently reviewing Affiliate Cash Vault! Stay Tuned!)