How to get started on internet marketing - confessions of an internet marketer

What exactly is the Google Shadow? No, it's a WHO! Yes, this sneaky Google Adwords assassin, who has been secretly leeching $100k on Google without anyone realising it, has finally stepped out of the shadows to teach you his methodology, together with providing a secret ninjitsu reusable shuriken that will ensure you will never leave a mission without any profits.

Time to tear apart the Shadow's mask and steal his secrets! Find out more about the Google Shadow.

WARNING!!!

It seems that the Shadow has finally upped the stakes. Yes, he knew he had to do some damage control to prevent too many people from joining him so he took action...

BUT

We did not expect him to give you all a second chance, so as of now it's still relatively easy to join him if you take the initiative.

The Google Shadow is still opening his doors to you in an easy way, so take action while he is contemplating over when he'll up the stakes again...WITHOUT WARNING!

What is the $1,000,000 marketing blueprint? You may think of it as a layout of marketing campaigns and strategies that cost $1,000,000 should it be sold publicly. Or it may be one that can bring you $1,000,000 if you use it correctly!

No matter how you look at it, you still want to find a complete guide and plan to marketing your first product, specifically a lucrative one that is still widely sought after over the years. Isn't it frustrating trying to think of which product to sell and research on when other competitors are stealing the show simply by accepting proven guides from their mentors and using it to their full advantage? This world is really unfair, but you can make yourself in a fair position and save the trouble of going through what 90% of others are doing.

Find out more about the $1,000,000 marketing blueprint from Wealthy Affiliate!

Internet marketing has become a popular activity over the recent years. The prospects of making money from home, or simply making money online, and quitting your 9-5 job have snared the attention of many working adults and students. However, how does one get started on Internet marketing? What is Internet marketing and how can a newbie or newcomer take the first step into this bustling world? Getting started on Internet marketing is not just clicking some buttons and money will be rolling in like an automatic teller machine.

To keep it short, Internet marketing is simply doing marketing for products over the Internet. You can call it digital marketing, or online marketing. Basically, you market other people's products and earn money from it.

Many people are very interested in doing Internet marketing, and there are many newcomers who are potential Internet marketers that can succeed well in future. The one problem is that they do not know how to get started. They do not know what to set up, what to get, and how to go about doing it.

The result?

Over 90% of newcomers and fresh Internet marketers decide to call it quits. They think that it is a waste of time, or a scam.

After going through this brief course, I believe that you will see that Internet marketing is an exciting point of your life, or even a turning point of your life. Stick with me, and I will lead you on the yellow brick road towards the money pot.

You are now a newcomer to Internet marketing. You have no idea how to get started, or whether it is possible to succeed in Internet marketing. You would have probably heard a lot of rumours and rantings that Internet marketing is a scam, or a futility. Your parents do not want you to start on something that is not proven to be your rice bowl for at least ten years. Worst of all, you have no one but yourself to fend for in this new world. Where the new physical world is bombarded with vast amounts of land to trek, the new digital world is bombarded with infinite websites and digital information that just continue to multiply like a virus every second.

First of all, you need to ask yourself why you have even considered Internet marketing in your brain and heart. If it was something futile, then you wouldn't have thought about it at all. Therefore, you have already taken the first step into the vast world of Internet marketing. Just like stepping into a new school, or a new workplace, or a new country, stepping into the new world of Internet marketing does bring some discomfort and worries to you, the newcomer.

The first thing you need to do is to adjust your attitude. In other words, tell yourself that you can succeed in Internet marketing. Here are some common questions or worries that newcomers ask or ponder in their hearts:

Q: Internet marketing is not my cup of tea.

A: You have to give it a shot and see whether it fits your lifestyle or perception of life. I cannot say that Internet marketing is for everybody because all of us are different. However, you cannot simply dismiss Internet marketing as not being aligned to your interests without even touching it. Get your hands wet by doing some research on Internet marketing first. There are tons of free material in the Internet that give you a rough perspective of the Internet marketing world.

I started out by attending a free seminar on making money online. This has spurred me to do more research on Internet marketing, particularly affiliate marketing and now I have already taken five steps forward, not wanting to look back anymore. If you need some quotes to help you stay enthusiastic in Internet marketing, I can tell you that in Internet marketing,

"You can make money while you sleep".

That is only if you are willing to put in effort at the start. That brings us to the next concern:

Q: If I put in so much time, effort, and some money into this and nothing comes out of it, then wouldn't it be a waste of everything?

A: Nothing comes for free. In fact, you do not sit around and wait for money to appear right in front of you. Be mentally prepared that you are going to invest a bit of money, some time, and a lot of effort at the start to build the foundations of your marketing system. I can give you some rough picture of what to expect.

Money: Assuming you have to invest a bit of money in the process every month, it usually costs around 50 to 60 USD. For my particular case, it would be roughly 40 USD for training and resources, and roughly 20 USD for a website and an auto-responder (more to be covered on auto-responders in future. It is an extremely crucial thing in your marketing).

Time: Newcomers need to spend quite a bit of time familiarising themselves with Internet marketing concepts, available resources in the Internet, and taking action immediately by starting their marketing campaigns as soon as possible. If you are working or studying full-time, set aside at least 2 hours a day for learning and executing. Otherwise, invest as much time as you can to maximise your learning curve.

Effort: Research on what you are planning to market, and the necessary components crucial to bringing you customers. You will need to understand how to propagate your campaigns effectively without losing out to others. Effort needs to be 100% and no less at the start. Perseverance is the most important factor for all newcomers because human beings easily give up at the first sign of failure or futility.

Q: Internet marketing is a scam, is it? How can you earn money while sleeping? I don't believe that life is so easy as that.

A: If you think Internet marketing is a scam because your friends and family told you so, then go and do some research first before agreeing with them. Most people think that it is a scam because they tried, failed, and gave up. The successful marketers tried, failed, and pushed on.

If you think earning money while sleeping is too good to be true, then let me assure you that once you find out the process and the logic behind the system, you'll naturally agree with me. For my case, I became hyped-up after hearing such a thing and went to verify it myself to confirm my excitement. If you want to verify it now, you can do a search on 'affiliate marketing', because that is precisely what we're going to do to achieve that.

We cannot blame others for thinking that Internet marketing is a scam because they are tons of 'get-rich-quick' schemes and frauds occurring constantly throughout the Internet. Your responsibility is to filter the scams from the genuine. Some tips:

1) Anything that promises quick bucks for a small investment without any effort smells dirty.
2) Anything that involves shaking legs and doing nothing is very suspicious.
3) Anything that asks for a high fee or price should be scrutinised carefully. You do not want to invest 500 or more bucks on something and then find out that it does not help you much if not at all.

With that, let's summarise what we have covered so far:

1) Internet marketing, if it's your choice, can become your cup of tea
2) There is a need for some investment to get started. Nothing is effortless and free
3) Internet marketing is not a scam; scams exist in Internet marketing

The most important thing you need to take with you is that your attitude towards Internet marketing needs to be aligned well. Clear any doubts that prevent you from moving forward and treat it as a learning process first before focusing on the money aspect.

All you need is your first sale and you'll never want to turn back and leave Internet marketing. Aim for your first sale by hook or crook because it is a sign of assurance for you that Internet marketing works.

All right, let's get started on Internet marketing!

John is already in his sixth month of Internet marketing, particularly in the field of affiliate marketing. After getting started on the lucrative field of Internet marketing, he has toiled and sweated to acquire as many skills as he could to get his first sale. After a serious diagnosis of information overload and insomnia, John still has not acquired his first sale. Then the marketing Devil appeared in front of John and offered him something:

"I have found you a 9-5 job that pays high and you'll get lots of healthcare and benefits immediately. Quit Internet marketing and let me show you how to make fast money without worries!"

John becomes hesitant and starts to ponder over whether to press the 'quit' button. Meanwhile, an anonymous person in another part of the world is getting ready to press on the 'buy now' button and give John his very first sale...

If you are reading this section, you have already been filtered out from the rest as one of the potential Internet marketers that will shock your community soon enough. By setting your attitude to point towards Internet marketing, you have broken a serious obstacle that over 80% of people could not. Give yourself a round of applause!

The situation that you have just read can be so true if you still do not get your first sale after quite some time. After the initial months of hype and enthusiasm, they start to wane when day after day you don't see money rolling in - not even a single dime. This is what I call 'eventual dissatisfaction' and every day it just piles itself up like the Tower of Babel.

We have mentioned that you have beaten 80% of all newcomers to the race by getting started on Internet marketing, and doing it seriously. Now what are the statistics of those who fall away from the path?

It's a shocking 90%.

To understand why this figure is so high, we need to remember that many of the newcomers who are getting started on Internet marketing are full-time workers or students. They have to put more priority on their work and hence they cannot afford to go full steam ahead with Internet marketing. Furthermore, their work guarantees them a payout at the end of the month, so they can work at ease (but not with satisfaction and delight).

The crucial time for any Internet marketer is the first six months, particularly the sixth month. This is the month when more than 50% of newbie marketers decide to call it quits and return to their 9-5 lifestyle for a fixed salary. If one still does not achieve any sales after six months, it is highly suspect that Internet marketing does not work well, is unreliable, and probably even a scam!

"I pumped in money and time, and I do not get back anything in return. This is a SCAM!"

The truth is, Internet marketing is like a business. Furthermore, a business profit and a fixed salary follow a certain relationship. Think of the fixed salary as a straight line that remains straight during some periods and rises constantly during other periods. The money is there, but the increase is slow but constant.

As for a business profit, it follows a general exponential curve. That means during the early stages, there is hardly any profit, or even a loss. There may be increases in profits, but they are so minuscule that they look insignificant. After a certain period, the profits start to grow, and then within a short amount of time, they skyrocket, far exceeding the fixed salary graph.

Although the relationship is more or less the same throughout history, people are still not convinced at it. Why? For starters, the early stages vary according to people. For some, it's only a month, or perhaps three months. For others, it may extend to a year or two. Sounds cruel, but that is the reality. Therefore, what should we do?

Believe in it.

You have already invested money, time and effort into Internet marketing. It is injustice to yourself to give up and throw everything down the drain. If I were in your shoes, I will be raving madly at myself for wasting whatever I have done all these months. Why not take a small break before coming back at it? After all, the investment I have made will not go away unless I really want it to.

Therefore stick to your beliefs which you based upon when you started Internet marketing. The key factor that separates winners and losers is perseverance because that is a beauty of the human being - to be unyielding and carrying on despite being on the verge of doom.

Of course, you can't persevere well by being alone. You need the support of your family and friends, including like-minded Internet marketers. Assuming that your family and friends despise Internet marketing, you are only left with Internet marketer friends who can help you persevere.

In my case, I decided to enroll in a training programme that allowed me to learn and access many tools and skills related to Internet marketing. This programme also boasts of an online community of like-minded Internet marketers who will be there to give you advice, tips and support. If you feel like giving up, tell them so and see how they will respond to your despair. I believe that you will find it much easier to persevere and carry on when you have such people by your side.

If you cannot wait, then check out Wealthy Affiliate, the Internet marketing education centre that helps you in your path towards being a successful Internet marketer!

I will be touching more on Internet marketing education centres, particularly Wealthy Affiliate, so continue to lend me your eyes and you will be getting started on Internet marketing!

"The poor people are very great people. They(the homeless) came to thank and say: You people(the nuns) are the best people to teach us family planning. It is self-control out of love for each other.

We(Teresa and her helpers) believe what Jesus had said: I was hungry, naked, homeless; was unwanted, unloved, uncared for...and you did it to me."

Mother Teresa, Nobel Lecture Speech at Oslo, Norway, December 11th, 1979

Imagine the poor people as the newcomers to Internet marketing and the nuns as successful Internet marketers and teachers that are already making more than enough on the Internet to survive and enjoy their lives. Every newcomer is a wonderful person, because within them lies the potential to become a leading Internet marketer. All they need is a right place to start, and a hand to guide them.

However, most of us do not even know where or how to get started in Internet marketing. We try to buy as many ebooks as we can to step up our knowledge and then apply them. That is when we notice that it is very difficult to apply them simply because what we learnt is only theory. The same goes for what you learn in stocks, options trading and forex. The theory can be grasped but when you go ahead and apply them, you will find that everything goes against what you have learnt. Or even that things do not go as what you have expected.

As a result, there is little or no success, and many decide to call it quits. Bail out while things still look fine, because once you get sucked deeper into the hole, it will be too late.

If only these people were given a chance to be guided and educated in Internet marketing right from the start, they do not need to be sucked into the hole in the first place. At least if these people do not eventually succeed according to their expectations, they can bravely say that they have fought the race, and they do not blame anyone or anything.

The fact is many people do not know that there are many available venues for Internet marketing education. Buying ebooks is not a bad thing, but without proper coaching, they are just bringing you on a wild goose chase. It is the same as learning how to play basketball from books without being coached properly.

Internet marketing education centres fill in the missing gap by guiding newcomers on a step-by-step basis to build the foundation upon which their future marketing systems would rely. The tools and resources are all at their disposal, and the best thing is that they can communicate with fellow marketers, newcomers or veterans, to learn more and get reassurance. Best of all, they make many new friends, which is integral to success in Internet marketing.

I'm a member of Wealthy Affiliate, one of the Internet marketing education centres in the Internet that provides such support to newcomers and experienced Internet marketers. Why I decided to join Wealthy Affiliate is no surprise, because prior to that I have been acquiring tons of information until I suffered from information overload. Furthermore, there was no friend doing Internet marketing, so I had no guidance and people to fall back to. Something needed to be done; I needed an avenue for putting all the information into place while being able to seek help from others on a first-hand basis.

What inspired me, and most of the other members, to join was the fact that many people were impacted by the training and support they received after joining. It is not the testimonies of affiliates making five or six figure sales every month, but rather that of affiliates who finally made their first sale, or their first $100 a month, spurring them to improve further and setting higher goals. You wouldn't be able to get all these from ebooks alone, so that is the magical factor which pushes newcomers to unexpected heights. If a bum marketer (literally a marketer who knows zilch) can even succeed within a few weeks after joining Wealthy Affiliate, then you, a newcomer, can succeed too!

The bottom line is that we all need to go through some form of education and guidance to succeed. Our parents did not leave us alone to study mathematics and then score A's in the national examinations without attending school. The presence of peers makes a lot of difference because human beings want to relate to people of their type. It is this invisible bond, invisible aura, which spurs us to develop and fight harder.

Education is crucial, so take action immediately and start your journey on board the Internet marketing ship!

If you are still hesitating, then continue to lend me your eyes. I will be revealing to you some of the activities that newcomer Internet marketers do to make their first sales. Get started on Internet marketing the right way!

Student: So how do I get started?

Professor: Go around to at least five people, shake hands with them, and introduce yourself to them.

Student: Okay, I have done that. What's next?

Professor: Go and form a group of five people. You can choose to start one, or join an existing one.

Student: Okay, I have done that. What's next?

Professor: Find out what kind of help your group needs now, and aid them immediately.

Student: Wait a minute...why aren't we starting lessons yet? We're not doing anything productive!

Professor: Your lessons have started the moment you entered this class. What results you gain will depend on your group and if your group members fail, you fail, even if you are good.

It seems that the moment you decided to start Internet marketing, your lessons have already started. However, where exactly is the starting point? Internet marketing is so broad such that newcomers will need to focus on only one aspect at a time.

Let us see...you do not have a huge capital, nor any products to sell. You definitely do not own a warehouse, nor an office. All you have is a computer and an Internet connection. That narrows down to probably one field that you can manage at the start.

Yes. It is affiliate marketing.

Put it simply, affiliate marketing is the thing for newcomers to start out with. Before I tell you why it is so recommended, let us find out more about affiliate marketing.

Imagine John has launched a new product to sell. However he does not know how to spread the word and he does not have time to learn and do so. If only someone could assist him in spreading the word and exposing the product to a wider group of people, sales will definitely come in.

The person who can help him is the marketer. For an Internet business, that person will be called an affiliate marketer. The affiliate marketer's job is to be on the frontline and promote the product to a wide audience in the hope of getting customers to buy it. He will be assisting the product creator, known as the merchant, who deals with the logistics and payment management.

Why is affiliate marketing so recommended for starters? It is obvious that no product is needed to be created and handled because the merchant will be dealing with that. The affiliate only needs to tell people about it and if people buy the product, both the merchant and affiliate will get money. Those are only starters - anyone should be able to figure it out.

However...

Affiliate marketers can market the product 24/7 without even doing it physically 24/7. They do not need to pay a single cent for their advertising campaigns if they choose to do so. Furthermore, affiliate marketers are paid extremely high commissions for a sale - up to 75%! Now compare that with an insurance agent or salesman. I'm sure you don't even want to think about the low commissions your bosses pay you for a sale after a hard day's effort of moving around and opening your mouth like a radio.

Sounds incredible? Actually, it's very simple to do...as long as you are willing to do it.

First of all, you will need to sign up for an affiliate programme. Great examples are:

Clickbank: The most recommended place for you to start affiliate marketing. Super high commissions and easy-to-use affiliate system. A hoplink is all you need to start marketing and getting sales.

Commission Junction: Similar to Clickbank, Commission Junction is the other one you will work closely with.

Ebay and Amazon: I'm sure you have heard of these two. They have affiliate programmes for you and since thousands of people buy from these two sites every day, you can find it easier to market these products.

Pepperjam: A new affiliate marketing site that was set up recently. They also deal with mp3 and other famous products. Go take a look if you think that competition is very high for the other sites mentioned above.

Affiliate marketing is simple to start with. All you need to know is how to market the product well and drive customers to buy it. However, there is a greater purpose in affiliate marketing than simply being easy to do and great for beginners.

It gives you a chance to work with people and build bonds with them.

By doing affiliate marketing, you are already helping people. People who need help to sell their products. When you help others, you will get the attention of people and they will want to help you in return in future. This is an extremely important factor in Internet marketing, especially affiliate marketing. One man can do only as much, but with others helping him, the results will manifest tenfold.

That brings me to the other point: think about helping others first before worrying about sales.

When you are marketing a product, either through articles or your websites, you are providing them with information, or solutions to their woes or desires. A sincere desire to help others will make the product more appealing and effective than one that is laden with deceit and sugar-coated words.

To show your desperation for sales will only chase customers away. They are not here to do charity work, but to buy something for their benefit. If you do not help them, they will not buy from you, even if the product you are marketing is top of the world.

In fact, the focus on sales at the start will only erode your enthusiasm in Internet marketing. Remember 'eventual dissatisfaction', mentioned in the first part of this lens? The trap to fall into is to only think about getting your first sale and not building the foundation of your marketing system. If you shift your focus away from sales to the desire to help others, or perfect your system, the sales will come naturally. And that is the law of attraction. Sales are like ferrous items, and your marketing system is the magnet, not you.

To really get started on affiliate marketing, you will need to sign up for an affiliate programme (e.g Clickbank), and then start your marketing efforts by writing articles and lenses like this one that you are reading. I will cover more on the different methods for kickstarting your marketing campaigns and how to use them to your advantage.

Things to do:
1) Sign up for an affiliate marketing programme
2) Do some research on a product that you wish to sell.
3) Think of how you are going to advertise the product.

Remember, in affiliate marketing, Google and Squidoo are your friends!

I am but a sunken marionette
I exist without, but not within
Arms are raised, eyes are set
But my soul, squashed so thin

Strings tied to me are moving
I follow whatever my body is doing
No more will I be slaved
For today, right now, I will be saved

Kenneth G. - July 2008

Just a poem to make my creative juices run amok, but I'm sure you can see the underlying meaning of what I am trying to express. Being in affiliate marketing, you will be the slave of the search engine. How traffic comes to your link or website will depend heavily on the respective search engines at the start. Furthermore, the amount of effort and sincerity you put into your advertising efforts will also determine your success. A campaign purely to drag people to buy your stuff will be squashed even if it looks attractive from the outside, because people have emotions and they want to interact with something that can relate back to them emotionally. I'm sure you still want to make money while you sleep!

Will you want to be slaved, or saved?

There are a few ways to start your very first marketing campaign, and the best ways for newcomers to start on are the free, $0 cost advertising strategies because I'm sure you are reluctant to invest a lot of money at the start for something that you are new towards. As you gradually become more successful (in the form of making money through your first few campaigns), you will naturally want to try out cost advertising because they are much more instantaneous in terms of results and sales, and the natural law of investing a certain portion of what you have to reap a proportionate amount of what you will receive still holds.

If you want to start your Internet marketing education now and avoid experimenting with risks to figure out the successful and proven system of affiliate marketing, you can start now with Wealthy Affiliate! You will find out why as I go along, so pay close attention to what I will be covering later!

"The pen is mightier than the sword" - Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Richelieu

So says this great playwright concerning writing. In fact, the powers of article marketing are not to be underestimated, because of the way it leverages on search engine optimisation (SEO).

Article marketing is free - it does not cost you money, only time. All you have to do is to write an article about a topic, add some links to your article so that visitors (traffic) can land on your sales site, and you're basically done.

You do not need to write an essay. Just a simple article that shows your readers that you have done some research on your niche. Of course, you have to make sure your language is close to perfect, so that it is credible. After writing your article, submit it online and wait for sales to come.

"There are millions of articles and guides out there! How is it possible to draw people to my article and convert it to sales?"

That is where article directories play the important role. The fact that article directories contain a lot of content, are updated daily, and are respectable in the sense of being non-spammy and full of keywords, ensures that any pages belonging to them rank high in the search engines. In fact, a 350-word article from an article directory can outrank a website consisting of many pages and content, both of the same niche. That is the leverage that you want to work on.

The two that I recommend are:

Ezinearticles - the most common and recommended directory that we recommend. There are certain rules to be followed, but once you know the tricks, you will find yourself submitting ten or more articles a week.

Squidoo - More of a portal than an article directory, but nonetheless it works very well. Many squidoo articles have made it to the top of the lists and you should not miss out on this. Furthermore, you are allowed to update and edit your articles (lens) and enable networking through guestbooks and published links. I can only say that...it is fun!

There are many more article directories out there, and you may want to do some research on which ones suit your style. I recommend that you try not to diversify at the start by posting constantly at many different directories because of these few traps:

Article duplication - Unless you are so creative that you are a non-duplicative article generating machine, you will tend to post the same articles onto different directories for the hope of spreading the word faster. Search engines will deem it as duplicates and plagarised works, and will bomb them fast. A tip is to rephrase and rewrite some parts of your articles before submitting them to different directories one at a time, but the best way is to just stick to a few directories first.

Boring routine work - By submitting to many different directories your article on the same topic, you will find that the process is like a mechanised one, devoid of enthusiasm. This will kill your interest in article marketing overtime, so do not oversubmit your articles. If you want, you can submit a certain article to a certain number of directories, and then for your next article (a different topic), submit it to another different number of directories. More variety and reduces routine work.

Lack of devotion - You will want to focus on a small number of directories and then find out how to maximise your efforts through them, rather than spreading them all out. Otherwise, you may find yourself ending up with nothing. For example, Squidoo lenses require constant updates to be ranked high in any directory, so if you just treat your lenses as yet another article rather than a pulling magnet, you will lose out eventually.

All right, I will give you some final tips on article marketing. The key thing for article marketing is keywords. You will need to use them strategically in order to be ranked well in search engines. Some tips:

1) Frame your article title such that it uses your keywords
2) Put a bit more keywords near the start of your articles. Underlining them may work well
3) Put a few keywords near the end of your articles.
4) Sprinkle a bit of them throughout your article body. Do not overuse them.

Finally, the most important thing is publicity. Spread your articles to your friends, let people in forums know about them, and your ranking will naturally increase. In fact, better ranking leads to more traffic, which leads to more sales. People believe in mutual help, so if you can do yourself a favour and comment on other people's articles, they will naturally do the same for you, thus increasing publicity. Remember, think about helping others first before worrying about sales.

If you want help, and also want to help others, consider joining a network of like-minded marketers here!

"There is no profit without investment" - Anonymous

We have to face it - we cannot make money without investing, either in money or in toil and effort. Money will not fall from the tree or from the sky, and even if it does, no one plans to sit and wait all day for it to happen.

If you are sick of writing, and you think article marketing is not your cup of tea, then you may want to consider pay-per-click marketing. What exactly is that?

Pay-per-click marketing involves setting up a short but informative advertisement that is usually featured in search engines. Any search engine user that sees your ad and clicks on it will be sent to your website immediately. Furthermore, you will pay a certain amount of money for each click registered.

"I have to pay just for people to click on my ad and go to my website?"

Yes, simple as that. You are leveraging on one of the fastest ways to get traffic to your website, so with such a good advantage comes a price.

"That sounds like a gamble. If I do not get any sales after all the clicks, I am losing money!"

That brings us to the point that there is no profit without investment. In article marketing, you have invested a lot of your time and effort to produce articles. In PPC marketing, you invest little time and effort to set up a simple ad to attract people faster, so you need to pay some money in return. Notice that everything is being balanced out.

What makes PPC marketing so attractive is that millions upon millions of people use the search engines daily. We know that there are much lesser ads compared to websites out there. The chances of squeezing traffic to your site improves, while at the same time they are targeted traffic due to the keywords that they searched for. Still blur?

John goes to Google.com. He has a problem with rearing fish and needs a solution, so he types in "how to rear fish without risk". After Google retrieves the results, John notices that there are several advertisements at the right side of the page. One of the advertisements is about the top ten tips for rearing aquatic fishes. It happens that John was also thinking of aquatic fishes, so the advertisement attracted him, and he clicks on it, bringing him to the website on the top ten tips for rearing aquatic fishes.

By having highly targeted traffic, your chances of getting sales are much higher. This is a method you would want to use if you need fast traffic.

If you are worried about the prices you have to pay, do not worry. PPC usually ranges from as low as a cent to a dollar per click. The price you have to pay per click is determined by the popularity and relevancy of the keywords you choose. Hotter keywords will result in higher rates. For example, the keyword 'water' can yield $15 per click, but a long tail keyword like 'drinkable h2o' may yield a much lower rate, say around $1 or less'.

A word of advice though - you need to do keyword research well. Ah, that sounds similar to article marketing, whereby we need to do research as well! We cannot escape from that, but a good research on keywords that you are going to use for your ad will yield fruitful results, perhaps even more than articles.

The most popular programme is Google Adwords, followed by Overture (now part of Yahoo search marketing). Adwords provide a lot of useful tools and guides for registered people, so do make use of them. The problem that newcomers will face when using Adwords is the tons of data they need to interpret to help sustain their campaigns. Things like Clickthrough Rate (CTR) are essential because Google will suspend your campaign or make your campaign cost more if they are doing poorly.

This is my advice to you regarding Pay-per-click marketing, so please READ:

Do not jump into PPC without any prior knowledge of it. I have done something like this recklessly before and I know how it hurts to realise that you know nuts about this complex system. Many people have lost much more than they earned, so it is not something that you want to happen to you at anytime soon.

The best way is to invest in some knowledge of Adwords (yeah, I'm always mentioning Adwords and not Yahoo Overture or other stuff, but do not be mistaken that Adwords is the only way to go). Would you rather invest a flat fee, say less than a hundred bucks, on educating yourself on Adwords, or would you take that money and do experimentation on Adwords, hoping to crack the code within three days?

I'm sure there are some who prefer the old school method of experimenting with Adwords first because with experience comes wisdom, correct? True, but I do not wish to see your dejected face that says "I quit PPC forever" after facing numerous failures.

Therefore, I suggest that if you wish to use PPC as your main method of marketing (heck care article marketing now, we can go back to it in the future), read up on PPC, or learn from the masters. Otherwise, if you just simply do not want to part with any dollar, then go back to article marketing. It's FREE!

Some PPC learning aids that I recommend:

Beating Adwords - a fantastic guide on Adwords written by Wealthy Affiliate founders Kyle and Carson. If you think the real deal of investing some money monthly on Internet marketing education is not your cup of tea, then consider this guide, because you will need it daily if you want to use PPC as your money-making machine. You will not be able to beat Adwords in a day using this guide, but if you use it constantly and take time to absorb what is written in it, you will know how to play with this mischievous bugger and extract the maximum benefit from it.


Keyword Analyzer - this is a well-designed software that allows you to do keyword research and find out the hottest keywords that can beat your opponents! If you are the type who enjoys experimenting (as mentioned earlier), then this software will get you hooked onto discovering new keywords...and even niches!

If you do not plan to invest in any of the two aids mentioned above, I highly suggest you avoid PPC or postpone it to a later period. Money is involved in PPC, so do not foolishly waste it on ineffective campaigns. If thousands of people can make money with PPC, then it is no hoax or scam. It's a matter of being equipped with sufficient knowledge and aids to win the online battle.

By now, we are equipped with two methods for marketing - article and pay-per-click advertising. How do we use these two methods if we are uncomfortable with just using one?

Article marketing --> PPC marketing

This is the most common track that newcomers use. Many of us do not start out with a lot of capital, so PPC is in a sense a bit tough to use at the start. Technically easy to use, but financially hard to sustain.

Through article marketing, it is free and easy to create. I'm sure eventually you'll be able to make at least a sale out of all the articles you have written so far. Just one sale is good enough to affirm your belief that Internet marketing works.

Once you get a decent amount of sales from your articles, you may then want to consider PPC as the next step. Set aside a bit of money and give it a go to attract even more customers. Once both systems are working, there are no more worries and you can even consider going further with other types of systems which are not covered here so far.

PPC marketing -> Article marketing

This is more for people who usually have some sort of income to finance their PPC campaigns. Since you are working for a salary, you may not have time to churn out as many articles as you can at the start. It may be demoralising if you churn out articles while juggling with your work, only to find out that sales are miserable, or even none.

PPC is quick and easy to set up. Coupled with learning aids like Beating Adwords (I hope you have bought it already if you are starting PPC soon!), there is no time to waste and you may be seeing results faster than with article marketing. One of the flip sides of PPC is that people who click your advertisements usually do not know you as well as when you are doing article marketing, since articles provide readers with your biography and profile. Therefore, advanced marketers usually use PPC to attract people to their site for opt-in rather than trying to convert them to sales immediately.

Once your PPC campaigns are producing sales, you will feel the urge to expand your marketing system further. That is when you may start article marketing. I'm sure the sales you made from your PPC campaigns will spur you do churn out articles despite heavy workload from your workplace because the positive mindset is in you already.

Conclusion

Choose the method that suits your marketing style. Of course, you can do both article and PPC marketing concurrently if you are more ambitious, provided that you can give focus to both of them well. If you have problems, you can always contact me through the 'contact me' link situated at my bio on this page. If you do decide to join Wealthy Affiliate through my recommendation, you will be able to work with me personally and we can support each other to succeed!

I hope you have enjoyed this orientation guide to getting started on Internet marketing so far! Stay tuned for more stuff as I cover article marketing in depth next issue!