Here is the most common question
that I come across in relation to
Internet marketing:
"I can see that there is great potential
for success on the Internet but I am a
beginner. I don't really know where to
start"
Whatever online business or
opportunity you are involved in there
is one essential skill that you will have
to know.
You will need to know HOW TO PLACE
ADVERTS.
Here are some of the things that you
start to learn when you submit ads:
The various locations where you can
place an ad such as newsgroups,
forums, ezines, web sites: and the
different rules and methods used for
each one such as frequency of posting
and size of ads.
How to post information to a mailing
list or newsgroup for free but using a
signature file to promote your
products.
How to code your adverts so that you
can identify where the response
originates.
How to organise your mail files to
handle responses.
How to simplify your own systems so
that you have standard replies to
common questions.
How to set up autoresponders if
necessary to take away the chore of
responding manually.
How to deal with the unexpected (for
example, even though you may
clearly spell out in your ad that a reply
should be made to an autoresponder
many people will still reply directly to
you).
All of this is excellent EXPERIENCE
which will prove invaluable for
whatever online venture you follow.
Now suppose you could pick up this
experience at no cost and earn an
additional income into the bargain !
This would be equivalent of being
trained for a lucrative job where
instead of you having to pay for the
training it's the other way round.
Believe it or not such opportunities are
all around you on the Internet !
They are called 'reselling' operations.
When a company has a product or a
service that they wish to sell they will
often enlist 'resellers' to do the job of
finding customers for them.
You may know a reseller by another
name, for example: agent, associate,
communicator, affiliate.
Once the reseller has managed to get
the customer to make an order his job
ends. The whole process of handling
the order, the collection of payment,
the shipping of goods, is done by the
company (or distributor).
So the job of a reseller can be as simple
as placing ads and commission is paid
on the value of orders made.
If you find a reseller opportunity
where you are not obliged to make
any outlay for your involvement then
you will gain the vital training that you
need - for free - and can get well paid
for it too

you've found the perfect affiliate
program, you've signed up and they
gave you a website .... now what?
"They" say that "all you have to do" is
drive traffic to your site ... but you
don't have a clue where to
begin ...Never fear, Affiliate 101 is
here ... here's a list of a few simple, free
or inexpensive tasks you can
accomplish today.Detailsfollow, first
just the list:1. Send emails to friends
and family;2. Make new friends on the
internet;3. Print out and distribute
posters, business cards, and/or
postcards;4. Write articles and post
free ads.First of all, don't panic. You
don't have to do ALL of these, just
whatever you feel comfortable with.
But I do heartily suggest that you
push the envelope a little on your
comfort level...Email Friends and
FamilyIf you're uncomfortable with
contacting family members (they CAN
be your sharpest critics) first scan the
options, maybe one of the less
obtrusive ones would work.Be sure to
write onLY to friends. Anything else
will be considered spam; any worthy
company will drop you like a hot
potato when they receive legitimate
spam complaints.Consider the friends
and family you might write to and
decide the best approach for each:1.
The Second Opinion Approach: save
this for the hard nuts to crack, flatter
them with "I've signed up for this
opportunity and would really like to
hear your opinion..."2. The Beating
Around the Bush Approach: "I'm
making some extra money doing this
biz, do you know anyone who might
need a few extra dollars?"3. The Direct
Approach: for those close friends that
you KNOW could use some financial
miracles in their lives ... you can lead
with the business opportunity or with
the products. I think it's Avon that has
a nice promo these days, "products
you can buy and sell". Simple and to
the point...4. The Chummy Letter
Approach: just write a letter to a friend
as you usually would and casually
mention what you are doing, that it's o­
n "wait and see", or already is making
you a little money, or whatever.5. The
No-Mention Approach: just add a
signature to all your emails that
includes your website's URL and your
email address, maybe the name of
your company. Subtle, let's them
explore if they want.Getting to Know
You...How do you currently meet
people on the internet? Game chat
rooms, forums, opt-in email lists,
Yahoo groups, messenger
services...these are only a few ways to
meet people. Many sites such as
Yahoo, AOL, or ICQ let you create a
profile including favorite websites, etc.
While direct advertising is often
frowned upon or prohibited, usually
signatures at the bottom of posts is
allowed. Many friendships formed in
forums and chat rooms lead to email
and website exchanges.Stuffing
Envelopes...Printed fliers can be
distributed everywhere you go,
posted on your car...be creative.
Include a business card or flier in
every piece of mail you send including
bills, on tables in restaurants, in phone
booths, stick them in business books
in the library. Make it fun! If you have
mailing addresses rather than email
addresses of anyone who might be
interested, send them a flier or
postcard.Become a Famous
AuthorAnyone can write an article,
everyone is good at something or has
an experience that would help
someone else out. Article writing
helpsbuild trust and over time will
brand your name and drive traffic to
your website. And it's free.Submit your
articles to individual webmasters and
editors as well as article
directories.Banner Swapping and Text
LinkingSome say that banners are not
very effective in getting traffic to your
website, but hey, it's free and it doesn't
hurt to try. It's best to spend some
time finding a high traffic site or two
and not fill your site with banners.
Text links are still your best bet.

What to look for when choosingAffiliate Programs

If you choose to sell someone else's
products, how will you know what to
look for?So you've decided you want
to become an Internet Marketer? Will
you sell someone else's products or
sell your own?If you choose to sell
someone else's products, how will you
know what to look for? After all, this is
a new venture for you.
Or maybe it's not. Maybe you have
been trying out some affiliate
programs which have not brought
you any money, or, worse, have not
paid you for the affiliate traffic you
have sent them.If you are the new
person, or the person who is
floundering in Internet Marketing, this
article will offer you some simple tips
for choosing an affiliate program.This
article doesn't cover getting traffic to
your site, which is another huge piece
of the puzzle, and will be covered in a
later article, but let's just start with
choosing affiliate programs.#1. You
should find affiliate programs that:
a) are relatively easy to set up (code is
either created for you or easy to
create)b) will pay you well. This
depends on your definition of what
being paid well means, but generally,
for most beginners, and some novices,
if you can see yourself being able to
make more than $250/month, the
program is at least worth looking atc)
give you products which people
actually use. There are lots of products
in the market which will sell, but do
you really want to be selling pet
rocks? If you do, please don't take
offense. Most legitimate affiliate advice
sites won't feature affiliate programs
that are exclusively selling something
like 8-Track players and tapes. While
there are probably collectors out there
who would love an 8-track player and
cassettes, the fact is that the market is
done with 8-tracks. The point is, there
should be a genuine need for, or
interest in, what you are selling/
reselling.So you find a program which
meets the above criteria. Now what?
Do a Google search on the company.
Find out what people are saying about
them. You may have to dig a bit, but
the combined experience of the
professionals (and not-so-
professionals) who develop and
contribute to the Internet on a regular
basis is, collectively, the best source of
advice you will find on making money,
or affiliate programs, anywhere.If you
want advice on some great affiliate
programs, you can visit sites which
have already reviewed the information
about companies and present it to you
in a straightforward way. If you are
ready to find some great affiliate
programs, then you will be able to find
categories of affiliate programs on
these sites, which will generally
represent the type of products you
would like to sell.Search engines love
content, and so do your site visitors.
Content is one of the most important
aspects of getting people to your web
site, and helping them to see the value
in what you're selling. You should
strive to choose programs with
products which are related to your
web site.In other words, if you have a
site which features information about
the Toyota Camry, you're going to be
pretty hard pressed to be able to get
your page content matched up so that
you could sell, say... baby rattles.Find
affiliate programs which relate to what
you already do, and then promote
those products.Finally, see if you can
find someone to actually talk to (ok,
email would be okay) who has
received regular checks or payments
from marketing products. We think
that this is, perhaps, the most
important part of any affiliate program,
because the main reason you promote
their products is to receive a check for
your efforts.So there you have it, some
simple tips for choosing great affiliate
programs! Hope this helps you to
reach your income goals, and also
helps you to develop a long-term plan
for on and off-line financial and
personal success.Jonathan Kraft has
been an online marketer for many
years. He is a massage therapist, web
designer, legal services broker, has
been a high school teacher, and is an
all around nice guy. He works with a
team of people on affiliateadvice.us,
where you can check out some great
affiliate programs that meet all the
above criteria.