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"The ONLY online money-making program that will put millions in your pocket with just a few mouse clicks" 

"Find out how a teenager made $2,000,000 in just 5 days, and copy his exact methods" 

Whether you've been in internet marketing for 1 week or 10 years, you've seen enough of those websites to drive you utterly out of your mind. And the worst part is that none of them actually deliver on their promises. Trying to see the "wood through the 'sleeze'" is the biggest challenge. 

In this hub, I'll be sharing a few methods that really work - and remember, no matter what these "get rich quick" websites tell you about "auto-money" and "no-work", a lot of work goes into actually making a decent-enough paycheck to fire your boss and make a living from your pc. 

EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING IS KEY 

In order to sell any product, online or otherwise, there has to be some form of advertising. The best methods that work with time and skill are: 

1. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising
2. Article Marketing
3. Social Media Marketing
4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

I'll attempt to explain how each of these works, and the skills one requires to actually be successful. 

As you read my ideas below, please remember: These methods will work well if you FIND YOUR NICHE and pursue it relentlessly! 

PPC: RELEVANCE AND CONTENT 

PPC is the fastest way to get targeted relevant traffic - and you don't have to have your own website to make money here. As long as the affiliate products you are marketing have really good sales pages that convert clicks into sales, you can get away with not having a website. 

If you've never tried your hand at PPC, then you probably have no idea that if you don't know your way around this muddy river, you could end up spending more than you bargained for without making a cent at all. The trick is to make your ads as informative as possible so that users who click know what they'll get by following your link. 

As most PPC users know, the best to use is Google Adwords, followed by Yahoo! and Bing. Google is the most successful because it is the best and most used search engine. And the main reason why it is the best is: they aim to give users the most relevant pages to match search terms. And that's what they require for successful Google Adwords advertising. 

Besides relevance, you need to choose a niche that doesn't have exceptionally high competition - otherwise you'll have to pay more per click in order for your ad to appear with the other 10 ads on the first search page. 

Your landing page also has to be relevant in terms of the keywords you've specified. It should provide the information that the Google user is actually searching for - this is how Google has managed to overtake other longer-standing search engines, and they aim to keep that as their standard. 

Google also seriously frowns on affiliate marketers marketing the same website - only one of the ads will show per search page result. So if there's already an established marketer who's marketing the same website and this marketer is highly ranked on Google Adwords, then the likelihood of your ad being shown on the first page is zero to nil. 

Google is very particular about the points I've mentioned above, and failure to comply with their quality standards could have your ads disapproved, or have them appearing on the 3rd or 4th page of search results. So, do some research before advertising your product with Google Adwords, and you can make money. 

ARTICLE MARKETING: CONTENT AND PLACEMENT 

This mode of advertising a product has been around since long before the Internet was even a dream - and it still works. The main reason why affiliates don't make much - or make nothing at all - using this method is because of 2 main reasons: 

1. Good quality content that people actually WANT to read
2. Placing that good quality content where users will easily find it

Before writing an article about the product or website you want to promote as an affiliate marketer, think very seriously about your target market. Use the Google Keyword Tool to find out what people in the niche you have identified are actually searching for, and how high/low the competition for you potential keywords are. 

Then, ensure you know as much about the product/website as possible, so that you can write to solve a problem. People are usually drawn to such articles or ads: describe the problem and then bring your amazing solution. Remember to include a link (or two) to the product that you're writing about so that the users who are convinced can have access to your product. 

How Does Your Market Find You? 

You need to submit your article to an article directory, and there are hundreds of them out there. The more directories you are able to submit to, the better. Enter article marketing software! This has taken the article marketing world by storm. Your articles are automatically submitted to a large database of directories, and as a result, you are able to reach your target market. If the article is worth the read, and it's in the right place, then you have a better chance of actually making a sale. 

SOCIAL MEDIA: RELATIONSHIPS AND BRANDING 

As an affiliate marketer who sells other people's products, the social media platform is relatively easy to use for building relationships, but may prove challenging in building your brand, and trust for that brand. The danger comes when an unsatisfied customer posts negative comments - remember, the way you respond is key. 

LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are widely used and very popular. In order to make your sales sooner, I would suggest finding a smaller social media community that deals specifically with your niche area. That way, you have access to potential customers who probably need the product you are advertising. Once you've figured out how to do it successfully on a smaller platform, then swimming with the bigger fish shouldn't be as challenging, or as damaging to your brand. 

Remember that building relationships is key, so it is important to reply to all messages. This means using any kind of auto-response is taboo, otherwise you'll alienate your potential customers before they even get interested in your product. 

Your followers should also feel that you add value to them in some way, so consider giving them something that will keep them interested in your product. This can be discounts, humorous titbits, product updates, links to informative blogs etc. 

SEO: BACKLINKS AND CONTENT 

Search engine optimisation is a way of getting your website listed on the first page of search results organically (without using paid advertising). This has become big business and a number of companies offer SEO services that "guarantee" first page listings. 

Popular search engines like MSN and Google use two criteria to determine how highly your website should be ranked on search results for particluar keywords. 

The number of links to your website: So this means if you have 10 000 other websites linking to yours, you stand a good chance of being ranked highly on search engine results for particular keywords. But remember, the quality of the links also counts, so it also counts who is linking to your website, and how long users actually stay on your site when they visit. 

The relevance of your website content to the search phrase: Relevance is measured by where and how often the search phrase appears. If it appears in the title and a few times on the page, then it's deemed by the search engine to be highly relevant content. I've given a very basic explanation here because search engines use advanced algorithms to determine content relevance. The important thing is to give value to your website visitor. 

So if you'd like to use organic SEO for your website, and find yourself listed on the first page of major search engines, you'll probably need to pay for SEO services from a company that specialises in such. 

CONCLUSION 

Armed with this information, I wish you every success in your affiliate marketing endevours. Remember to choose a product that you're convinced enough to buy yourself, and products in good niches - then persist, persist, persist. 
Nothing good comes without hard work and dedication. 
All the best, fellow affiliate ... 


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