Internet Marketing Made Simple

A question that we frequently get asked is “How can I make money online NOW?” The problem is that it takes quite a bit of time to build a real long-term business online. It’s like the “real world” in a lot of ways: you can’t open a new store and expect to be flooded with customers on opening day.

It just doesn’t work that way.

But, you CAN make money online now and build a long-term business at the same time, if you’re smart about it and you have the right skillset. First, we need to figure out what kind of marketable skills you have. Here are some ideas…

1.) Do you have a knack for programming? You can go to eLance or Guru.com and find jobs appropriate for you.

2.) Are you a graphics designer? Start advertising your services using Google Adwords and the Warrior Forum. People need new graphics all the time.

3.) Can you write well? With just a little bit of practice and experience, you can charge $10 to $20 for a 400 to 500 word article. Start off by pricing your articles low, and then move up the chain as you get more and more testimonials and experience.

4.) Do you have a lot of connections to “important people?” Find people who are having problems or need a service, and then connect them to the people you know. Charge a royalty!

5.) Do you know how to build websites? Build websites for local businesses, or even setup simple blogs using Blogger.

6.) Does a local business need help moving inventory? Become a salesperson and sell it on eBay for them. (Become a consignment expert!)

There are a number of ways to get started and make money online now, but they *do* require a little bit of work on your part. If you want to build a long term business, though, you have the opportunity to earn between $2,000 to $6,000 per month in your part time.

For more information and a free video about building a long-term online business, click here now. (No experience or skills required – 100% free.)

This guide explains everything important about using social bookmarks to drive web site traffic. This information can be used to easily create a targeted list. Of course, the guide is especially valuable if you’re looking for free traffic. It’s aimed at entrepreneurs, internet marketers and small businesses.

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Introduction to the Social Bookmarking Traffic Guide

Social bookmarking might seem dull and boring. It might seem like a fad or a craze that will die off. But, when done right, using social bookmarks can dramatically increase high quality web site traffic. If you’re serious about growing an online business, it needs to be a tool in your “traffic secrets” toolbox.

Here’s something to chew on…

If you don’t follow the advice in the Social Bookmarking Traffic Guide you are losing out on cheap and easy traffic. I know that’s a strong statement but by the time you get to the end of this guide, you’ll understand the full power of tagging and bookmarking.

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Getting Started

I want to first make sure you clearly understand social bookmarking. In short, it’s a way for humans to keep track of stuff online. It usually means using “tags” and metadata (which is data about data).

Tags are really nothing more than words or phrases that you use to describe other words. For example, you might use “online marketing” as a tag for The Rhodes Brothers. Or, perhaps you might use something like “tagging” and “traffic” and “bookmarking” for the guide you’re reading right now.

There’s nothing magical about the tags you use. Feel free to use words and phrases that mean something to you. Or, if you’re trying to drive targeted traffic, use keywords that are meaningful in your niche. We’ll cover this in great detail later on; no worries.

Most social bookmarking systems allow you to show or hide bookmarks. So, you can use bookmarks for yourself only or you can expose them to the public.

If you keep bookmarks private they won’t have any impact on web site traffic, although they might be useful to you personally. If you make them public, however, you will enjoy free traffic. The world can find your bookmarks and find you by clicking on your links. I explain this in detail below.

So in large part social bookmarking is an activity where you are categorizing your web sites, domains, articles and blogs. You use social bookmarking to develop a way to stay organized online.

If you want free traffic from your social bookmarks you just expose them. For example, if you have a blog you can use Del.icio.us to bookmark blog entries. In turn, Google will find your bookmarks and your blog. And finally, people will find your bookmarks and your blog in the search results of Google. This is how organic traffic flows from your bookmarking.

Yes, it’s that simple.

At this point you have a basic understanding of social bookmarking. You could leave right now with confidence about how to get started. However, if you really want to know how to get traffic or if you want to avoid serious problems, keep reading.

I’ll also say this: There is a very specific model that I use to drive maximum web site traffic with web 2.0 bookmarks. I promise to reveal this model with you — there is no catch here. I will give you everything you need to succeed with your social bookmarking.

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Social Bookmarking Issues

Social bookmarks are not perfect…

You cannot ONLY use social bookmarks to drive traffic nor can you expect to build a real online business by just using Stumble Upon, Del.icio.us, Reddit and Technorati. You need an entire marketing funnel in place — This is something I explain in detail later.

Before I go on, here’s my list of the top 10 social bookmarking sites. Keep in mind that these sites allow tagging and bookmarking but they aren’t necessarily dedicated to bookmarking. For example, Del.icio.us is very much focused on tagging and bookmarking — that’s its core job. However, Digg is really more of a news aggregation web site but you can tag and bookmark, and therefore drive a lot of traffic.

OK, let’s get back on track. Here’s my list of the top 10 social bookmarking sites:

• Digg
• Del.icio.us
• Stumble Upon
• Reddit
• Propeller
• Sphinn
• Furl.net
• Newsvine
• Technorati
• Slashdot

There’s nothing scientific here. These just happen to be the bookmarking sites that have worked well for me. I have certainly used other sites and other tools. Don’t read too much into this list; caveat emptor.

By the way, I’m guessing that you’re getting worried about something: WORK. In other words, I suspect you’re worried about all the time and effort you’ll need to apply to get killer results.

Don’t worry. I’ve got your back covered. I cover this below…

Another issue is that your site, blog or article often get pushed to the bottom of the stack, or off the page. This is especially true with the social media new sites like Digg and Propeller. Imagine that your new blog entry makes it to the front page of Digg. Although you’ll enjoy insane traffic for a little while, after just a couple of hours your blog entry will drop off the home page.

Some people are worried about this problem, but it’s a false problem. First, you’re getting a gush of traffic in a situation like this. Second, you’ll get residual traffic even after you drop to the next page. Third, other people will link to you as a result and you’ll get residual, off-Digg traffic. Fourth, you’ll get some very powerful backlinks and therefore Google will love you. You’ll be enjoying serious organic traffic.

Another potential problem of social bookmarking is that your tags (or keywords or keyphrases) are terrible. If your keywords are meaningless then no one will care what you have to say. No one will find you through Google.

But, again, this is a false problem. Sure, you can have issues with keywords but let’s face it — you probably know how to find great keywords and niches. I don’t have room to fully explain keyword selection, but it goes like this:

1. Go to Google Keywords and start searching
2. Find keywords that people are using a lot
3. Or, target keywords that make sense for your niche
4. Look on Google’s Traffic Estimator to figure out your competition
5. Choose keywords with plenty of searches and low competition

That’s a pretty bad explanation but you get the point. Use tags that are based on popular keywords that aren’t very well represented by competitors on Google.

Or, just pick really popular keywords. That can work for you as well because it takes less time and energy, but it takes longer to see robust results.

Let’s get back on track…

Another issue is that people don’t spell very well. Many tags are sloppy. They are dirty. There are misspellings all over the place.

Um, so what?

People are people. Using misspellings can actually offer you a competitive advantage. This little secret has made some people on eBay thousands and thousands of dollars. (Think about it; this can mean BIG money.)

Furthermore, you can use BOTH misspelled keywords and properly spelled keywords. You can tag like crazy — tag carpet bombing! Here’s a simple example to make this 100% clear:

• deductible
• deductuble
• deductable
• deductabel

No one can stop you from using all four of these words. Of course I don’t think you should do this all the time. However, if you are tagging and your gut says, “Hey, I’m not sure how to spell this!” — Others will have the same problem. Take advantage of it and enjoy the extra free traffic.

Let’s push forward…

I promised to talk about how to handle all the work associated with social bookmarks. Let’s look at that in the next section.

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Two Secrets of Social Bookmarking

The are two simple ways to eliminate the pain associated with social bookmarking. As I’ve said, it can be labor intensive so you need to decide between these two options:

1. Burn hours and hours of time creating your own bookmarks
2. Use social bookmarking tools or hire (outsource) the work

Obviously you want to use tools or hire smart, affordable people to do work for you. Better still, you want to pick a great tool, master it, then train someone to do the work for you using the best tools available. That’s maximum leverage.

Right now, the best tool is probably Social Marker. It’s a semi-automatic social bookmarking tool. You sign up for access to each of the individual social bookmarking sites (e.g., Digg, Del.icio.us, Furl) then head over to Social Marker and sign up for that too. Then you use Social Marker to semi-automatically update those sites.

If you have issues with Social Marker, no worries. There will always be sites and tools out there for you to use. If you’re really desperate, head over to RentACoder or ScriptLance and have someone develop one for you.

So, I’ve revealed two of the big secrets of social bookmarking. First, you need to find tools that make sense. Second, you need to use outsourcing web sites to get the bookmarking done for you. Or, have tools built for you.

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Revealed! More Secrets of Social Bookmarking

There are several really good reasons to use social bookmarks and tags. You can get very high volumes of traffic in very little time.

You might say, “But that traffic isn’t targeted, John.”

Fortunately, there is something I call Social Traffic Filtering which I’ll tell you about. In essence, the amount of traffic is vitally important as an input factor for your traffic funnel. All traffic funnels require traffic. There is no way around this. I’ll explain why this is so crucial in just a moment.

Although a lot of social media and bookmarking traffic will be useless, the fact remains that a lot of it is legitimate, targeted traffic. There are humans clicking and reading what you’ve written. So, if you’re providing valuable content then people will reward you with repeat visits and they’ll join your lists.

That is HUGE.

Let me say that again…

If you’re providing valuable content then people will reward you with repeat visits and they’ll join your lists. (Your list is the blood of your business.)

It’s your job to qualify these leads. You must be ready for this social traffic and filter these folks using great, high quality content. You need to give them high value; respect their time. Then, you need to filter them out with top notch squeeze pages. Offer them something wonderful and grab their email addresses. If they don’t stay and read, and if they don’t join your list, just move on. Let them go. They’ve been filtered out.

To frame this another way, you cannot expect to make a lot of money online just by getting a ton of social bookmarking traffic. That’s just plain silly. You must plan ahead with a Social Traffic Filtering marketing plan.

I explained the basics above and I’m sure you can see how this selection process can provide you with a good list — maybe not Rock Star great, but that’s fine. These people are solid prospects and as they opt into your email list, your business is growing and growing.

Oh, one more thing. Here’s a big Rhodes Brother’s tip: There’s another level of filtering. Here’s how that plays out…

Once you have folks on your list, your autoresponder series can push and pull them in many different ways. It’s up to you to use the autoresponder to qualify people. I strongly encourage you to provide value and pre-sell. If you start selling immediately, you’ll filter out just about everyone. That’s no good for you and it’s no good for them.

PROVIDE VALUE.

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Traffic Leverage From Social Bookmarking

Here’s a very simple concept with profound implications.

What you need to do is combine several different social bookmarking tools together (i.e., assets and plumbing). If you stack these tools the right way, you will have over-the-top, compounding traffic.

I know this sounds vague. So, once again I’ll break it down using an example to make it crystal clear. Here’s just ONE example, step by step:

1. Post a fantastic blog entry on your niche blog
2. Digg the blog entry (or ask someone for a favor)
3. Go to Twitter and talk about it; gently ask for ReTweets
4. Privately direct message (DM) some trusted Followers; “Please Stumble”

I know this seems simple but let me tell you, this works great. I don’t do it too often because I don’t like to burn people out. It’s a special weapon.

But again –

This is just ONE way to use these various social bookmarking web sites and tools. This kind of activity gives you serious traffic leverage. It’s also another type of marketing funnel that you can tweak and tune over time.

One more thing –

By doing this kind of bookmarking and “backscratching” you can build a powerful affiliate network. It’s also a great way to find and develop JV partners. Remember, this is all very social. It’s about relationships…

Sidebar: Join the Rhodes Brothers Affiliate Program.

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Traffic On Traffic On Traffic

Your web site is not yet flooded with traffic but you’re ahead of 99% of everyone else — You’re in the club.

At this point you must take action…

I strongly recommend that you sign up for Traffic Drill. Like this blog posting, it’s absolutely free.

We’ve put together more material for you about getting traffic to your web site. I give Traffic Drill my highest recommendation. So, if you’re serious about web site traffic read about Traffic Drill.

Cheers,

~ John

I’m going to tell you how to use Twitter. This is primarily meant for people who want to use Twitter to drive web site traffic. So, it’s mostly about marketing but it is useful for anyone.

I encourage you to start with this: 10 Simple Twitter Secrets. It’s a blog posting I wrote back in August 2007, well before all the “Twitter Gurus” started popping up. It’s a amusing to find these “secrets” in $27 reports.

Next, take a look a this blog posting: How to Search Twitter. If you think you know everything about finding people and good stuff on Twitter, you need to reconsider. There are many tools outside Twitter that give you incredible power. (Twitter search will become more powerful than Google?) There is incredible value inside Twitter that you can extract, if you know what you’re doing.

At this point you should have a solid foundation. You know the basics of Twitter and you know how to tap the hidden value through search. Now it’s time to look at how to use Twitter to drive traffic. Furthermore, I’ll explain how to boost the power of your social network using simple tactics and tools.

You need to take an inventory of your business assets. For example:

• Do you have a blog?
• Do you have any products for sale?
• Do you have an affiliate program?
• Do you have any special skills?

Once you’ve compiled the answers to these questions you have created a pile of business assets. This step is crucial. So, please pause a moment to reflect on those questions even if you don’t write down answers (highly recommended).

What you’re going to do now is search for people who talk about you, your blog, your products, and so on. Use Twitter search tools to find “links” with other people. If you’re not Following them, start now. Also, start to use the @username functionality to connect with these people. If you’re lucky, these people will start Following you. Once that happens, direct message (DM) them and start real conversations. Interact with these folks. They are the backbone of your Twitter social network. I can’t stress this enough: be sincere, honest and 100% legitimate. Avoid spam and automated tools. They’ll work against you.

Now that you have built a Twitter network, start finding ways to help these folks. For example, run a survey or poll. Be sure to @username and direct message them. Find out what they want and what they need. For example, you might DM me (http://twitter.com/webword) about a new usability quiz or online marketing survey you’re running. Interact!

This activity will give you business intelligence. You’ll also find that people will re-tweet your messages without asking. They will help you because you’re helping them. Because you care, they care. Before long, a small (but loyal) group of these Followers will become friends. They can also become affiliates and joint venture partners. Knowing what you have — business assets — and what they want will be critical. You’ll be using Twitter to build your business and conduct business. This activity will naturally drive traffic without any special magic.

The process I described above sounds so simple. It’s almost childish. It might feel too manual or it might seem like a brute force tactic. But the truth is that this is so legitimate and since, that it’s got more traffic power than a tidal wave. You will see a constant stream of traffic with an occasional flood when some of your Tweets go viral — trust me, this happens. The interactions with my trusted network suck people in. There is excitement and buzz; traffic MUST flow.

As I write this blog posting I have well over 2,000 loyal Followers. Make no mistake: This 2K+ group of Followers is 10x better than an ill-be-gotten or manufactured group of 20K Followers. My Followers are legitimate and they are powerful. We work together to drive traffic, share ideas and make great things happen for each other. That is the “secret” of Twitter.

I’m going to leave you with one final bit of advice on how to use Twitter. This is what many readers — probably you! — care about. You can dramatically increase traffic with Twitter just by asking for it. Here’s what I do:

• Post a tweet which includes a link
• At the end, I say “Please Stumble” or “Please Digg” or “Please RT” or “Please share”
• I direct message 3-4 people who care about the topic and ask for help

That’s it. Because my Twitter Followers actually care about what I write and have to say, they help me. Likewise, when they ask for Stumbles, Re-Tweets, Digg’s and so on, I help them. We don’t promote junk and they don’t promote junk. (When they do, I tell them bluntly and we move on.)

This is all possible because I’ve developed such a strong, loyal and LEGITIMATE (read: no trash!) group of Followers. We actually care about each other. As a result, we all benefit.

I’ll end by saying that using Twitter is a social exercise. It’s not about code. It’s not about using tools. It’s not about anything but … people. If you want to use Twitter for traffic you have to rethink how you interact and socialize with other people. Most of the lessons above are basic and eternal. It’s too bad that so many people forget that it comes down to humans talking to humans.

If you liked this blog posting, I’m glad! I’ve got plenty more to say: Follow Me on Twitter!

~ John

p.s. Show me some love please? Please Stumble, Digg, Tweet and share this blog posting if you want other people to know how to properly use Twitter. Thank you for your time and for helping.

My brother wrote a very clear step-by-step guide about how to make money online. When I first saw it, I thought it was awesome. However, I’m thinking that it needs some love.

My brother’s step-by-step plan to make money is powerful but it’s scary because it is long. I want to remove any fear, right here and right now.

If you want to make extra money online you do not need to build an entire empire. You do not need a big system, you do not need special software and you don’t even need seed money. In fact, you should start small. Start by making some extra cash online.

I’m going to show you how simple his plan really is…

1. Pick a topic.
2. Set up a blog.
3. Post great content.
4. Set up backlinks.
5. Get traffic, make money.

That’s really all there is to it. It’s very straightforward. What matters is that you execute each step with effort and passion.

You also need to have a clear vision. Don’t just try to make extra money online. Instead, plan to make money and pay off your credit card debt. Or, invest the extra cash in a small business, or grow your little online business into a bigger business. They key is that you have a plan for the money.

Let’s look at each piece of the plan quickly. Again, I want to keep this simple.

1. Pick a topic. You just need some place to start. Most people get stuck right at this step. They simply don’t take action. They just keep reading and thinking. Stop researching and start taking action right now.

2. Set up a blog. This is very, very simple. Don’t let the technology scare you. Simply head over to Blogger or WordPress and set up your blog for free. It’s very, very easy. If you get stuck, experiment a little. Or, do some research and fix the problem. You CAN do it. Millions of people have done this so you’re not alone.

3. Post great content. Some folks will pick a topic and set up a blog, but they will never post ANY content to it. This is silly. You’re so close to success at this point. You just need to start posting content to build up your blog. That valuable content will attract attention and links. That means traffic to your web site. Making extra money isn’t far off.

4. Set up backlinks. You can build backlinks in a million ways. Personally, I think investing a few bucks in Easy Backlink Builder is the way to go. If you’re not ready to invest any money you can simply find blogs in your niche and start posting great content, with a link back to your site. Or, you can post in forums in your niche. This is easy, fast, and fun. It grows your business too.

5. Get traffic, make money. The traffic will start to flow. If you do the work, people will start to find you. It does happen. You’ll want to slap some Adsense on your site or visit Clickbank and get some affiliate links on your blog. There are better ways to make money online but this will get your started.

Two more tips…

First, be sure that you install some sort of web traffic analysis tool such as Google Analytics. You want to measure and test what you’re doing. The only way is with data.

Second, be sure to grow and evolve. You will make mistakes and you will get down from time to time. But, if you stick to it, you’ll start making money. Before long you can make a lot of money online just following the simple tips above.

If you’re looking for more great advice like this you might want to take a look at the Really Simple Method. I promise to give you something more advanced than what I’ve explained above. It’ll move you to the next level.

~ John

Finding a great internet marketing affiliate program is a daunting task. There are literally tens of thousands of internet marketing products available on the market, many of which have affiliate programs. So, how do you find the best one for your website or list?

The best internet marketing affiliate programs have the following characteristics:

* They track multiple sales. If you send a visitor to a merchant’s products, is your affiliate ID cookied (attached to that particular visitor) for future sales? A smart merchant will always follow up with visitors about upsells and offers, and you should be getting the credit for all of those sales.

* Sales are tracked for months, not days. Your affiliate tag on a customer shouldn’t expire for at least 30 days. Many merchants set a limit on how long a customer is “tagged” for, and if they purchase after this tag runs out, you no longer make any commissions from sales of that customer. The best internet marketing affiliate programs last for 60 days or more.

* You’re making a significant amount per sale. There’s no sense promoting a product if you’re not making at least $10 to $15 per sale. It’s barely worth your time. You should also be making at least 50% of the sale price. Some merchants offer 70% commissions or more.

* High conversion rates. If a product doesn’t convert, there’s no sense in promoting it. Also remember that lower priced products should convert much better than higher priced products. Track your numbers to make sure that you’re maximizing the value of each visitor you send.

* Pre-sales funnel built in. Many great internet marketing affiliate programs have a follow-up system built on that drastically increase conversion rates. This means more money in your pocket. It is also easier to promote these products because you’re offering “free content” to your website or list, not a sales pitch.

* Recurring commissions. Only a small percentage of programs out there offer recurring commissions, but getting customers into a recurring billing membership is invaluable because many customers will pay you for years to come, month after month. However, conversion rates for memberships are typically lower. Be sure to track your results carefully!

The Rhodes Brothers Affiliate Program offers multiple product affiliate tracking, high conversion rates, and pre-sales funnels ready to sell YOUR website customers or list. Click here to check it out.

Don’t have a website or a list yet? Check out my make money online post to get a step-by-step plan to make your first $1,000 online. (It’s 100% free.)