One of the best activities in your daily marketing routine that you can do is to make a new connection, or contact. This is also one of the most uncomfortable internet marketing activity. Several years ago, you could remain pretty much anonymous and still create a great deal of traffic, sales, and authority. With the new rules of social media, and networking, this is no longer the case.

In order to get the most out of your online business, make it a priority to meet a few new people each week. This is something that can greatly increase your marketing leverage without spending any more in your advertising budget to do it. Meeting new people will do a few things for you.

1. You broaden your network of business contacts and friends.

2. You receive recommendations for other people who can help you.

3. Your new contacts will now recommend you to their connections.

4. New joint ventures can happen overnight because of the contacts that you made.

5. You know that there are other people doing the same thing you are.

Make A New Contact Today!

Putting feet to your business is the only way that you will be able to compete in today’s incredibly fast paced online world. However, you must get over your fears of meeting new people. If you are one of those people who can instantly reach out to new people and strike up interesting conversations, that is great! But, if you are like me… then you need to make this a top priority on your to do list.

Make a new contact today. With social networking that is very easy to do. Open up any type of social networking account and you can make several new contacts on a daily basis. For me, there are three that work very well.

Twitter. Find new people, that you do not know, and introduce yourself by following them and using the @reply feature. Reply to something they wrote, or answer a question they asked. However, the key is to be a part of their stream.

Facebook. Another great way to meet a new person each day is with Facebook. You probably have several friends on your account now, but how much do you really interact with them? Send a message about their recent blog post, comment on a status, or recommend them in your update. Join a group and talk with people there, and interact on fan pages. The key is not to just collect “friends”, but to meet them and get to know them.

LinkedIn. The last of the sites is LinkedIn. This is mostly for business professionals, but anyone can take advantage of the site. Meet new people on a daily basis and get to know their business. You might need them some day.

Go Ahead, Make A New Contact!

Chances are, you are already involved on these sites. Use them today to make a contact that you can begin to cultivate, keep in touch with, and interact with.

New Year’s Resolutions are a dime a dozen during the change from the old year to the new one. Of course, they are usually the same old ones. Lose weight, quit smoking, be more giving, be a better spouse, and on and on. One of the things that most resolutions have in common is that they are ill fated to last.

Why?

Mostly because there is no real commitment to it. It is just something that is made up on the spur of the moment to make sure you have done the “resolution” thing. Coming into 2010 I did not make any New Year’s Resolutions. Rather, I made New Year’s Commitments. These commitments are birthed out of desire and necessity. Instead of going into a long ramble about what I am doing, I thought I would put down the main points of the ten most important new year’s commitments that every internet marketer should make.

Internet Marketing Commitments For A New Year

1. Define your goal! Whatever you do, do not head into this new year without a sound, detailed goal on paper. Be as specific as you can be and plan out your entire year. This is not a list of things you would like to accomplish – more, it is a list of what you will accomplish. Many people think it is good enough to put down a wish list. What they would like to do, if they could. I believe there is much more power when you write a list of the things you will accomplish. Sure, it is still a wish list, but you have a different mindset about it.

2. Make A Schedule! Every successful internet marketer has a set schedule that they adhere to very rigidly. There will be times when you will have some distractions – this happens at any work site – but, you must have a schedule of when you work, what you plan to accomplish, what you do on specific days, and even when you will participate in social media and networking.

3. Make Social Media A Priority! Following on the heels of the last point, social media, and social networking, is the way that marketing it moving to at a very rapid pace. If you are already involved with social media marketing, that is great! But, you will have to step it up in order to keep your brand, your website, your services, your product, you yourself in front of the millions of eyes that are out there. The real important part is not to be just involved with Twitter or Facebook, but to expand your horizons with YouTube, and becoming very active specific niche sites.

4. Do Something New! One of the worse things you can do with your online business is always do the same old thing. Believe me, I know. The first few years of my business I didn’t want to try new technology, or new ways of doing things. I wanted to stay with what was comfortable. Today, it is much different. I make it a point, every day, to learn a little bit about something new. To catapult your business much farther than ever before begin doing something new. Make videos, do a podcast, go to seminars, set up your own webinar, it does not matter what you do, just do something new.

5. Create New Content Each Week! Content is still what is going to win the day as far as organic search traffic, viral exposure, and winning the hearts and minds of the people of the Internets. Every week should have some time set aside for creating new content. This content does not have to always be in the form of written. It can be videos, audio, email series, ebook, or anything else that people can grab, use, and give to someone else (or let them know about).

6. Focus On SEO! While you are out doing your socializing with social networking, you must also give SEO (Search Engine Optimization) a major part of your attention. Learn about what makes the search engines love your site and work at it until you get higher and higher rankings.

7. Start A Newsletter! We have all heard that many people think that email is a waste of time. However, many big name marketers are starting to run a separate email newsletter besides their RSS feed. By integrating a newsletter into your marketing efforts you have another platform from which to give out your content. It is not just an advertising medium. It is a content medium. Start and build an email newsletter for a much larger Internet footprint.

8. Focus In On Mobile! This is a two part commitment. We can not deny the fact that the world is going mobile. Mobile phones are no longer just for making phone calls. Accessing the web, answering emails, sending pictures, and making videos are all done with mobile phones. If you want to stay competitive you need to be available anywhere, anytime. Focus on how to move your business towards being more mobile in this new year.

The other part of focusing on mobile is to make your website more mobile friendly. This is one of the things I am working on for my websites now. You can either add a plug in for your Wordpress site, Wordpress Mobile Edition is a fairly decent plug in, or you can have it built into a downloadable application. The plug in would be much easier.

9. Commit To Building A Business Instead Of A Quick Buck! The one thing that I have seen the most is that most of the people who are getting involved with internet marketing today are looking for a quick dollar. They join one MLM after another in search of the one BIG opportunity that will earn thousands of dollars each week. However, always looking for the ONE BIG THING will not work in the long run. Building a business – a brand – will. Commit to this year of building your authority, your brand, and a long time online business.

10. Have Fun! Least, but certainly not in importance, is to have fun with your online business. Uptight internet marketers who walk around with a scowl on their face, stressing out about their business, and just not being very friendly to anyone are just not fun to be around. Look at your internet marketing like a journey, or an adventure. I look at my online business as an Indiana Jones movie. I never know what will happen next, what treasure will be uncovered, or who I will meet. I have a lot of fun. Probably more than I should. Make it a commitment this year to have fun with your internet marketing adventure!

Internet marketing is more than just throwing up a few banner ads and buying some PPC ads. Much more. Commit to these ten things and you will a drastic improvement in all areas of your online business.

And remember… have fun!

I have come to know a lot of great people all over the world while helping them with their advertising campaigns. Of course, I have also met some less than desirable people. During the last several years of online marketing I have come to see that there are three distinctly different types of internet marketers.

Marketing and Sports

Being a coach, fitness fanatic, and personal trainer I like to compare everything to sports. In fact, if you think about it, there isn’t much in life that you can not directly compare with sports and athletics. Every time I work on a new campaign I think about a large sports arena with the advertising materials as my team and the internet target as the audience, spectators, and opposing team.

In sports there are three different types of athletes. The same thing goes for internet marketing. In the several years I have immersed myself in the internet world, I have come to see that there are three different types of internet marketers. And they are not all good.

What I mean by that is this; there are those who are hurting themselves by being one, or even two, of these types of marketers. It sounds harsh, but if you are not willing to step up and change the way you approach your internet marketing – you will fail.

Three Types of Internet Marketer

Before you take a look at the different types of marketers take a minute to think about how you go about your own internet business, or presence. If you take a very honest look at your business, you will most likely be able to pinpoint which type of marketer you are. And, be able to make some changes for future success.

1. Quick Hitter – Only In It For The Money (Glory)!

You know the kind of athlete that moves from team to team looking for a better deal? Today with free agency, many players jump ship at the sign of a more lucrative contract. By the end of their career they have played for several different teams. However, it isn’t only in the pro ranks that this type of athlete is found. I played men’s softball for several years and was amazed at the number of people who would join different teams each year because they had the “good” players.

In essence, these types of athletes want the glory – the accolades of either earning more money or being on a “winning” team. Internet marketing has this same type of marketer. They are in it for the glory, and most definitely for the money.

This type of marketer jumps from opportunity to opportunity, or plasters the web with quickly put together two page websites based on the “hottest” keyword. This is the perfect formula for failure.

The Quick Hitter is so wrapped up in keyword research, tweaking Adwords ads, optimizing landing pages, and leaving a trail of mini sites in their wake that they cannot possible focus on building a real business. They are in it for the quick hit.

2. Weekend Warrior – Plays On The Weekends But Believes They Know It All!

I’m sure you know about this type of athlete. Every town is overrun with these types. I know mine is. These are the guys who play a few pick up games of basketball, softball, or even volleyball at the local recreation center and think they know it all about sports. As a coach, these people drive me absolutely nuts. In the internet marketing world, this type of marketer is one that has dabbled with a few MLM programs, sold a few Clickbank products, and now gives out their “expert” advice.

This type of marketer is a step above the Quick Hitter in that they are more consistent with what they are doing. However, it is mostly very inconsistent.

3. Lifestyle Athlete – Dedicated To Lifelong Success And Growth!

I have been active all my life. In fact, I’ve been called “obsessed with sports”. I wouldn’t quite call it an obsession. Rather, I would call it a dedication. I love playing, coaching, and helping athletes reach past their goals and continually establish new ones. That takes a lifetime of dedication and passion.

Internet marketing, or building any business really, requires the same type of passion, dedication, and lifelong “obsession”. Anything short of this and you are missing the mark as far as what you can potentially achieve.

The first time I ever set foot on a field as a coach was on a soccer field. I love soccer. I’ve played it since I was about 10 years old. Even though I had a lot of experience, I was scared. I had never coached anything before. Now, I was going to be leading a team of middle school boys. I’d like to say we had a stellar season. We only won one game. However, the learning experience was invaluable. Now, I have gone on to coach several sports.

When I started marketing on the internet, I had a simple online shopping mall with banners to hundreds of different sites I was affiliated with. It did alright, but I knew I had to continue learning, growing, and stretching myself. So, I started copywriting, advertising, and consulting. It wasn’t a one time thing – it has been a life of learning and reaching.

Internet Marketing Is A Lifestyle

This has been made even more crystal clear with the advent of social media. You can see, in real time, how the most successful people have become that way. They live what they do.

The most successful athletes – from the middle school soccer player to the professional, highly paid athlete – live their sport. They practice, live healthy, and put all their energy into being better. Not just once, or every few months, but continually.

Marketing on the internet demands that same type of lifelong dedication. It does not matter if you are an affiliate, a service provider, own a retail website, consultant, or info publisher. You must live it.

Which type of marketer are you? Where do you find yourself? Are you the Quick Hitter, Weekend Warrior, or the Lifestyle Athlete?

Here’s a quick list of 60 online advertising tricks I’ve learned over the last 13 years of online marketing and setting up marketing campaigns. There is no particular order, just some of the do’s and don’ts I’ve come across along the way.

Do….

1. Be persistent in continuing to learn advertising and marketing.

2. Find a proven marketing coach to help you.

3. Learn, and practice simple copywriting as soon as you can.

4. Be familiar with different advertising tactics.

5. Use articles for website promotion.

6. Write and submit a consistent 3 to 5 articles a week.

7. Be an expert author at EzineArticles.com.

8. Submit articles to individual ezine publishers.

9. Get started with social media marketing.

10. Start a blog dealing with your niche.

11. Be a consistent participant in forums.

12. Comment, comment, comment on other blogs in your niche.

13. Provide quality content through weekly ezine or newsletter.

14. Send traffic to landing pages for capturing email and preselling visitors.

15. Be active on Twitter

16. Learn solid pay per click strategies.

17. Spend time optimizing webpages for higher search engine rankings.

18. Use an email signature in all your emails.

19. Seek out relevant sites and ask to exchange links.

20. Spread some ‘link love’ in your own articles and blog posts.

21. Give away a lot of free information in reports, ebooks, and email courses.

22. Keep landing pages up to date with relevant information and web copy.

23. Always test new copy, landing pages, headlines, and ads.

24. Participate in webinars, internet radio shows, and teleconferences.

25. Hold contests to increase web traffic.

26. Focus your advertising on one single action.

27. Go Viral in your advertising.

28. Have a plan and work diligently on it.

29. Use email ads in relevant ezines for targeted marketing.

30. Think of how you want to be thought of (brand) and build your online presence from there.

31. Experiment with buying targeted ad space on relevant websites.

32. List your website with all major search engines and directories.

33. Work hard in creating effective, stirring, and “pullable” headlines and titles.

34. Keep a ’swipe file’ of other advertising to learn from.

35. Create a social media landing page.

36. Do budget your advertising dollars to spread out over several areas.

37. Write guest posts on other blogs.

38. Form partnerships with other people within your niche.

39. Use social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon and Digg for further exposure of your site.

40. Have a multi-pronged attack in your advertising.

41. Use coupons and time limits as incentives.

42. Write and submit press releases on newsworthy events in your business, or affiliate company.

43. Use offline advertising methods (business cards, newspaper ads, etc.) to promote your website.

The Do Nots

44. Get discouraged if you don’t see overnight millions.

45. Write over-hyped sales copy for landing pages.

46. Get started with PPC advertising without really studying it first.

47. Just post your own links on Twitter.

48. Only participate in forums when you want to advertise your website.

49. Only publish your newsletter when you want to sell something.

50. Use pre-written, company supplied landing pages and ads.

51. Comment on blogs with “Great blog!” and leave it at that.

52. Spam publishers and site owners with your content on a daily basis.

53. Focus only on selling a product.

54. Limit yourself to just one advertising method.

55. Waste your money with safelists and paid “guaranteed” traffic sites.

56. Jump into social media marketing without a plan.

57. Use only free blog hosting for your blog.

58. Spam your ezine subscribers with daily issues or ads.

59. Try to do everything yourself.

60. Present an answer to your target audience’s problems.

The Biggest Marketing Do Of Them All

You can really get lost in the do’s and don’ts of advertising website and kind of lose the fun of it. (Yes, advertising and marketing is fun!)

You can also get so wrapped up in what you should and should not do that you kind of get frozen and don’t know where to go. But, I think I can lessen the anxiety a little bit with the number one marketing “do”.

Just do it.

You simply won’t achieve any type of traffic to your website if you don’t do something. Get started slowly and begin to build as you learn, work with someone, and see some results. But… you must do it!

What about you?

Do you have any tips for the “do” and “don’t” list? I’d love to hear them. Why not jotting it down in the comment section?

Recently I wrote a quick post about what I believe internet marketing is. In that post I did a two things. First, I defined internet marketing as…

Internet advertising is being a loud voice to your market where you solve their problems with your products or services and build continuous, long lasting, and mutual relationships.

The next thing I did was lay out a quick formula that I think simplifies, and brings that definition, down to its most basic form.

Internet Marketing Formula = P + R = T

In that formula is the basic ingredients for your success with internet marketing. Doesn’t really matter if you’re into network marketing, affiliate marketing, adsense marketing, or marketing your own product or service. If you’re doing it online (or offline really) then these three variables are the main ingredients for your success formula.

But, what does it mean and how can you use it in your own marketing strategy? Just like any other type of algebraic equation, you plug in the numbers you know and solve for the one you don’t.

P = Problems

Or you could also substitute the words ‘need’ or ‘want’ here too. However you phrase it we’re talking about the things, solutions, services, goods, and/or information that people need or want. This is your contribution to their life.

You find out what people need, what they are struggling with, what they are buying now and you offer it. When I first started with copywriting and providing advertising services it was because of two things. First, I knew I wanted to help people. Second, I saw an overwhelming need for a real, personal, low-cost, and creative advertising service. I saw the problem and provided a solution.

Most advertising campaigns are built on trying to get the most traffic to a website so you can monetize that traffic in some way. When you build your advertising around a problem, or a want, or need, that traffic is already pre-sold into buying. Much more effective.

R = Relationship

Think of your favorite places to shop. Think about the people you buy things from. What makes that place, that person, so special?

It’s the relationship you have with them.

I’ve been teaching my clients this for a long time. This is something that I think a lot of affiliate marketers miss out on when they try to go for the quick buck. Long lasting relationships are a very powerful, and beneficial, tool in online marketing. Really for any type of marketing, online or off.

The recent boom in social media and the emphasis on building relationships people are finally realizing this for the first time.

When you think about it, building relationships with the people who visit your site is really one of the most important things you can do. Everything you use should be geared towards creating a foundation for future repeat business and referrals. Social media enables you to put more personality and build those relationships.

If you’re wondering how to build those relationships, here’s just a few different ways:

1. Weekly email newsletter
2. Videos
3. Blog posting and commenting
4. Connecting on Facebook and Twitter
5. Joint Venture partnerships

When you take the time to cultivate these relationships you are in effect stretching your advertising dollars. People want to do business with people they know, like, and respect. They will also refer that person to others.

A lot of my business comes from repeat clients and the people they refer. Relationships is a very powerful variable in the Internet Marketing Formula

T = Traffic

The end result of working with the first two variables is traffic. Every person online wants their share of the billions of people who actively surf the internet. This is the answer to our equation.

When you add both the problems (needs, wants) and the relationships you have built and are building the outcome is traffic.

You can’t have one and leave out the other. The formula isn’t P = T, or R = T. They are not equal or compatible.

P + R = T is the equation to have cemented into your mind as you begin planning, evolving, or implementing your advertising campaign.

Sample Internet Marketing Formula In Action

To get a perspective on what a marketing plan would look like using the P + R = T formula here’s a mock example.

Joe has started a new website focusing on movies. He wants to get traffic that will do a few things while at his site.

1. Sign up for the RSS feed.
2. Interact with comments.
3. Click on product links from Amazon.
4. Click on other related ads.

So, let’s work the formula.

Problem, Want, or Need

Joe sees an opportunity to provide real movie reviews, news from someone who really loves movies to an audience that isn’t as internet savvy and more wholesome. He sees that bigger movie sites are geared more towards a younger crowd.

Joe builds a site with this problem in mind and writes articles and posts directed at this type of audience. He is putting his personality into the posts in an effort to be real, and hopefully people will trust when looking for real movie news and reviews.

Relationship

Joe is thinking this site needs to be more like a family instead of random traffic from search engines. So, he is building relationships on StumbleUpon, Digg, Twitter, Facebook and in movie forums. He is also setting up a weekly email newsletter with special information on movies, dvd releases, and other information.

Another major component to his relationship building is going to be found in the comments on his blog and the comments he leaves on other blogs. He interacts with the people who leave comments on his blog so that they will want to come back. And by commenting on other blogs he is extending his reach to a bigger audience and engaging in the conversation going on there.

One more relationship builder that Joe is going to use is writing articles for article directories. These articles are going to be different from movie reviews and be like ‘10 Best Family Movies’, or ‘What Movies Should You Watch This Summer’. This will provide a jumping off point for people to get to know Joe. The perfect relationship builder.

Traffic

By concentrating on the problem (real, relevant movie reviews from someone who truly loves movies) and the relationships (through interaction and information) his traffic will begin to build over time and actually multiply at a good rate.

P + R = T

The Internet Marketing Formula isn’t some kind of gimmick or get rich quick scheme. It is a process by which you can “plug in the numbers” to help you create an effective internet marketing strategy.

I often tell my kids when they get stuck on an Algebra or Geometry question to do just that. I tell them to remember the formula they had learned to solve the problem and “plug in the numbers”. That’s what I’m telling you now. Use this formula and “plug in the numbers.”

I want to ask you a few questions. Do you have a few minutes?

In fact, I’d really like to ask you five very specific questions about your online marketing. I like to do this with my clients when I first meet with them and then throughout the entire time we work together. The reason for this is because I believe questions get you to think and then act.

So, this post is really for you. I am hoping to be able to set the environment where not only are you reading something, but you’re also thinking along the way. So, clear your mind and let’s go enjoy a beautiful sunny day out on the deck or in a park somewhere. If you want to grab a coffee… that’s ok too. Actually, I’d rather like one.

My Questions For You About Your Internet Marketing

Ok… comfy?

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention. You might want to grab a notebook and a pen or pencil. I prefer a pencil, but that’s me. Alright, lean close, pick up the pencil and let’s talk.

Question #1. What have you already done in your internet marketing?

If you’re going to start to go somewhere you need to know where you’ve been. One of the first things I always ask my new clients is this very question. It’s so important to realize what you’re doing now and in the past. Because when you think about that then you can see where the improvements can be made.

It’s like going on a trip. If you have a very small map of the area you’re going into and you get lost somewhere off the map, then it’s going to be much harder to find your way back. But, if you took a larger map that contained the entire city, county, state, or country then you have a much better chance of finding your way back. You have a better view.

This first question gives you the view you need to get your advertising back on track. Not only that, but you could see where shortcuts, or detours, could be made. What obstacles to be avoided. Where you’re wasting gas (money) and where you are making up time.

Go ahead and grab your pencil and paper and list everything you’ve done for advertising up to now.

Question #2. What is working and what isn’t?

You probably knew that was coming. Once you see the general overview of your advertising you begin to see what is working and what isn’t.

There really isn’t any sense in chasing after advertising that isn’t working. Especially if you’re just getting started or are struggling. It’s ok to let things drop by the wayside and concentrate on a few things that are working. Maybe it just isn’t the right time for a certain advertising method.

Your next step then is to cross out everything that isn’t working. Take no prisoners. Don’t get nostalgic here. It’s time to be ruthless. Even if you’re left with just one single advertising tactic, do it.

Question #3. What would you like to see happen, this month, with your website?

There are several things here to take note of. What I’m really talking about here is your goals for the month. These goals will cover several different areas and you must keep a very close eye on them.

Grab your pencil and write down these things to make a goal for and keep track of.

1. Website traffic – how much do you want to see.
2. Profit – how much do you want to make.
3. Money spent – how much do you want to spend.
4. Time spent – same thing… how much time will you put into it.
5. Good response from visitors, customers, or partners – yes, make a goal for positive responses.
6. How many people link to you – a pretty big thing to keep track of but many don’t.

Here’s why these are important.

Website traffic – self explanatory. Please keep this goal very, very realistic. Don’t go over the top and say, “My goal is 5000 unique visitors this month!” Great goal, might not happen. Again, since you’ve already written down everything you’ve done you should have an idea of how much traffic you get already.

Profit – again, very self explanatory. And again, keep it realistic. Something you can reach so you don’t get discouraged.

Money spent – yes, you need a budget. Don’t go over it either. If you choose to spend any keep it low to maximize your profits.

Time spent – spending too much time with your advertising is just as bad as spending too much money. Especially if it isn’t working. You have nothing to show for your time and have lost valuable time with friends and family.

Good responses from visitors, customers, or partners – might be unique to me only, but it gives a measure of who is talking about you, and what they are saying. If they say it to you, then chances are they’ll tell someone else. You should have a goal for this. Six to eight positive comments in a month, personal comments, is a great goal to start with.

How many people link to you – pick a number for how many other sites you want to link to you. This can even be ReTweets in Twitter, bookmarks in StumbleUpon or Digg, or other social networking links.

Go ahead. Write it down.

Question #4. What two advertising methods do you feel comfortable with?

Like anything else, if you’re not comfortable with it you’ll have a hard time doing it. You need to look at everything you’ve written down so far and pick two, and I’m talking only two advertising tactics to start with. You can always add a new one if/when things begin to pick up, but if you waste too much time on several different ways to advertise you’re going to fail before you get started. I’ve seen it too many times.

Back to the question at hand. What do you feel comfortable with? Article marketing? Blogging? Social Media? Pay Per Click? Viral Videos? Participating in forums? Commenting on blogs? Whichever it is, pick two.

Now, set out a plan for the month to put those two into place.

Question #5. Can you commit to doing this for the month?

Don’t automatically jump to yes. Every time I start a new advertising campaign I am almost fanatic about asking my client this question. I have to know, and you have to know, that you’re going to go through with this even if the first three weeks are rough and you see very little return.

Can you… will you commit to a full month of getting the word out about your website? If so, then write it down.

Take your answers and get advertising!

That piece of paper if your map for the month. Put it somewhere you can see it everyday. Always be thinking about it and if you need to make course corrections, you can see it before you get too far off the trail.

Good luck!

Over the years I have been able to put together quite a list of places I have used to help advertise websites. Some of them have been pretty good, some just plain bombed. Some of them I have had to take off because of the changes in online marketing and advertising they just don’t work anymore. Some are timeless and will work anywhere, anytime.

So, without further ado…

25 Advertising Strategies For Traffic, Authenticity, and Sales!

Top Ten

1. Article Marketing – This is the way to market anything on the internet.

2. Become active in social networking – The way of advertising on the internet is changing and the quicker we adapt, the better it is. Social networking is very powerful in terms of creating buzz, elevating your authority, and driving traffic.

3. Optimize your webpages – Google, MSN, and Yahoo still reign supreme in the traffic department. Make sure your pages are optimized for higher rankings.

4. Build a list – Today the emphasis is on RSS syndication, but a list is a list is a list. Build one.

5. Start a blog – You need a place where people can get to know you, read your content, and feel comfortable with you.

6. Leave comments on other blogs within your niche – Not a quick “Nice post”. Leave an actual comment on the post about what you liked, how it helped, other relevant resources, or even what you don’t agree with.

7. Join social networking groups – Websites, such as Facebook have a place where you can create groups that deal with a certain topic. Of course, if you don’t want to create one, you can join one. A great place to answer questions, join discussions, and even do a little self promotion.

8. Get started with Google Adwords – Pay Per Click advertising is a great way to advertise if you do it right. Make sure you spend some time learning how before you jump into it.

9. Start making viral videos – The video explosion is something that marketers should be taking advantage of more.

10. Join forums dealing with your niche – Not only is this a great way to learn, but it’s a great way to connect with others and promote your authority on a topic.

The other 15

11. Submit your blog to blog – Two of the best places to submit your blog are MyBlogLog.com and BlogCatalog. There you list your blog, or blogs, and find others within the same topic. It’s kind of like a social network for blogs.

12. Give great content to your newsletter subscribers – It’s one thing to build a list, but you need to keep your subscribers. Provide great content and you will.

13. Exchange links with other site owners. – When you come across a website similar to yours go ahead and email the owner to see if a possible link exchange could happen between your two sites.

14. Have fun with BTR radio – BlogTalkRadio is a way to have your own radio show right over the internet. It’s also very social. You can either have your own show, participate in ongoing shows, or both.

15. Pay for advertising space on other websites that cover the same topic as your website. Of course, there is a cost involved here, but if you have the combination of right site, with right graphic and text, you’ll see some great returns.

16. Buy advertising in ezines. – Often referred to as solo ads, you can do pretty well with these types of ads. You do have to be careful because of all the spam, but as in advertising on websites, the right combination can bring great returns.

17. Give away free information – Sometimes all it takes is a notice that you’re giving away a free report, or ebook, and you’ll have a landslide of traffic. Put together a content rich package and your authority is multiplied exponentially.

18. Join with other marketers – Combine your product with another marketer’s product for a double-whammy joint venture and you get double the exposure.

19. Create content on Squidoo or Hub Pages – A great way to both advertise and drive traffic, and build revenue is to create content on sites such as Squidoo or HubPages.com. People can join your fan base and read your articles when new ones are completed.

20. Don’t neglect an email signature – A great way to advertise your site is to include a short signature that is on all your emails. It can contain your company, url, phone number, and any social networking url’s.

21. Write a press release for major announcements – Just because you are an affiliate for another company doesn’t mean you can’t write a press release concerning some development in a product or the company. Then submit the release to PRWeb.com

22. Have a contest. – People love to win stuff. Set up a contest for your email subscribers, RSS subscribers, commenters, web visitors, whoever you can think of.

23. Write a guest post for other blogs – Blog, or website owners, do like to take time off. But, they need to keep the content flowing. They do that with guest posts. Check out a few blogs, interact on them, and then write a post and see if they could use it.

24. Upload your content to Scribd.com – Great way for content providers (reports, videos, articles, ebooks, online magazines, etc.) to get that content out is by uploading it to Scribd.com.

25. Get on Digg and StumbleUpon – Social bookmarking websites provide great exposure for your website, blog, and content. When you are dugg or stumbled, other people associated with the person who initially bookmarked it will also see your content. Then it begins to grow from there.

25 Ways To Advertise Your Site. Can You Add To It?

Here’s your chance to try out on of these traffic generators now and list some of the ways you’ve been successful with driving traffic to your site, building your authority, and making sales. List them in the comments below. I’d love to hear what you’re doing!

If you haven’t noticed, the world of advertising on the internet is making a pretty big change from anonymous to personal. People are interacting with other people and the resulting relationships is what is driving traffic to websites. There are a lot of reasons why this is… all discussed on another website, but the simple fact remains that personal marketing is becoming more effective than mass, anonymous marketing.

Today’s Daily Kick is about being a little more personal in your advertising efforts. For those not social media savvy yet, there are two major social networking sites that have pretty much taken control of the hearts and minds of the entire planet. Facebook and Twitter are great ways to keep in touch with friends and family, but they are also fantastic vehicles to meet, and connect with, new people.

A major aspect of networking on these two sites is to make yourself available to interact with your friends or followers. One way to do this without trying to think up pithy little quotes and humorous quips is to answer questions.

That’s your task for today…

Answer at least three questions posted by your friends or followers.

If you’re not connected on either Facebook or Twitter, then today’s kick will sound foreign to you. If you are though… you have your task.

Answering Questions on Facebook and Twitter

Before you run off to complete your task there are a few things to consider.

1. Make sure you know the answer, or can find out. That might sound silly but many people will try to give an answer to a question they know nothing about.

2. Don’t point the answer in your direction. In giving an answer to someone’s question it is better to give than to receive. Give links to other websites, tell what someone else told you, or what has worked for others. That does not mean you never point to you, just don’t do it all the time.

3. Follow up Once you have given your answer, or answers, check to see if what you advised helped in any way. This goes along way to establish a friendship and label you as someone to come back to.

4. Make sure your profile is up to date. When you answer someone’s question for the first time, they are going to check up on you. The best place to do that is in your profile. Guess what they are going to look for first? Your website URL. Make sure everything is up to date.

There you go.

With that information in hand go…. right now… and begin looking for three different people who have a question of some kind that you can answer. It doesn’t have to be even related to your business at all. As long as you know the answer, give it.

Go.

Effective website advertising, when done correctly, is a thing of beauty. In fact, it is almost like watching a perfectly choreographed play in sports that is run to perfection and wins the game. Flawless. Perfect. Without any glitches or mistakes.

In online advertising there are several factors that you must keep in mind and focus on to ensure the perfect advertising campaign.

And before you begin asking if you can possibly have the perfect advertising campaign , let me tell you upfront; It can happen. It has several times for people who have launched a brand new product and have seen hundreds of thousands, and even millions, of dollars in profits in one day.

Effective advertising is a culmination of several factors all working together. Some at precise times and others on a continuing basis. Now, to make this process a little bit "user friendly" and not to overwhelming here are ten of my best tips for an effective advertising campaign for your website.

1. Have a concrete, but flexible advertising plan. Effective advertising is not a mistake. It is something that is cultivated, thought about, planned for, and even foreseen. You should be able to see where you are going (what you want from your efforts) before you even get there. So many people throw up random ads here and there, buy ad space in various newsletters, do some link exchanges, write a few hap-hazard articles, and even do a hit or miss PPC campaign.

Failure to create a concrete plan will result in spotty, if any, results. However, you must also keep in mind that the plan should also be flexible enough to make slight changes here and there when you see something is, or isn’t, working.

The best way to create a plan for your online advertising is to just do it. You could follow a certain advertising how-to in creating your plan , but it isn’t going to do you any good unless you sit down and do it.

I always begin creating plans with a blank piece of paper . The power of a blank piece of paper is unlimited. In that piece of paper there are no restrictions, no boundaries, no preconceived misconceptions. Your opportunities are limitless.

Want to begin your effective advertising plan off on the right foot? Sit down and create a plan.

2. Have a multi-pronged advertising attack. A lot of times when people begin to think about advertising they do one of two things. First, they get so overwhelmed by the many ways of advertising that they freeze and don’t do anything at all. Or, two, they close their eyes, pick one of the methods, and throw something at it. As you can probably guess, neither one of these approaches does much to the overall effectiveness of your ad campaign.

An effective ad campaign incorporates several different advertising methods, and materials, so that a maximum number of people will have contact with your link. Fortunately, that is so much easier now with social media marketing. An ad campaign that uses email ads, articles, blog posts, blog comments, forum postings, twitter tweets, facebook notes, and several profiles on other social networking sites is like having a huge bat signal flashing everyone to your website.

3. Create conversational style advertising materials vs. hard sell. One of the things I’ve been telling my clients for years to do is to write conversational style ad materials. For example, let’s say you want to send an email notice to your list or a list you bought ad space in. Instead of writing this over the top, super-hyped hard sales letter your marketing materials should engage the reader in a conversation.

Response rates increase sharply when your advertising is conversational. The reason that social networking is so powerful is because of the conversation. How do you engage in a conversation in a one dimensional ad?

Simple. Create it like you’re sitting across the table from the person reading it. Write it like you would a letter. Leave room for the person to answer questions in their mind, respond to statements out loud, and be led to click on your link.

4. Always keep a main point in focus. A focus is the end result you want to happen because of the advertising. Throughout your advertising campaign there should be one central theme or focus. Keep in mind your focus must be consistent through the entire campaign. Your emails, newsletter issues, landing pages, ppc ads, ads on blogs, comments, social networking should have the same focus. The end result you want to come through should be the same. New RSS subscriber, new email subscriber, buy a low priced report, join free membership portal… whatever your focus is, keep it consistent.

5. Have at least three different sets of advertising materials with different goals. As an athletic coach I always go into a game with a few different game plans just in case our original plan doesn’t really work for our team. In basketball, for example, I usually have the team drill hard on four to five plays we can use during the game. To me, advertising is much like playing sports. And having several different “plays” that you can run is key to an effective ad campaign.

With several concise, and focused, advertising “sets” (this is just a way to say that each on is distinct and should be regarded as separate) you are able to do a few things.

Have three different goals each corresponding to a completely different landing area on your website.

Create new opportunities to connect with people depending on your focus.

Test to see which “set” is more effective and put more energy there.

Find out why some “sets” aren’t working and make changes.

6. Become friends with others in your niche. Effective advertising has always been through word of mouth and alliances with other people doing the same thing. For instance, a hunting guide I know that shows his clients where the best hunting grounds are so they can go home with their trophy buck told me a few years ago that at least half of his new clients come from referrals by other guides.

Internet marketers often feel that everyone else is their competition and should stay away from them all, or in extreme cases, talk bad about them. When just the opposite is true. You should create friendships, alliances, joint ventures, mutual advertising, or anything else you can think of with others within your own niche.

Selling ebooks? Great! Create a friendship with someone else who sells ebooks much like yours (Facebook and Twitter are great for this) and refer traffic to them. In turn, they do the same for you. This will, and can, work for anything you’re selling online.

7. Concentrate on social media marketing. Advertising on the internet is constantly changing and social media wouldn’t have been on the radar of advertisers five years ago. Or even two for that matter. But, today’s age of relationship building and emphasis on transparency and authenticity, social media marketing has become one of the most effective traffic sources.

Starting out slowly with the most popular, and easiest, social websites like Facebook, Twitter, and StumbleUpon can get you started with networking, relationship building, and a great source of traffic.

8. Learn the fine points of blogging and article marketing. Effective marketing on the internet means information. The easiest form of information is the written form. No specialized software needed. I do realize that to say that writing is easy would not be accepted by those who find it a struggle. But, if you take time to learn about blogging and article marketing, then it does become easier.

Writing for the web is the way that you become known. It is the way that people get to know you, see what you are about, find out what you know, and then be drawn into your website. Articles are a very powerful way to do that. If you did nothing else, but write articles and blog a few times a week, you would begin seeing large amounts of traffic and long term, repeat customers.

9. Add new advertising “avenues” each week. This is where a lot of people begin to lose steam a little in their advertising. It is easy to see how this can happen, but you must keep moving ahead rather than staying static. Here’s what I’m talking about.

A lot of times people will just pick a few different ways to advertise and stay with them forever. They don’t venture out and try anything new. More than that, sometimes people will find a forum, some blogs, a social network and do the same thing… stay there instead of actively looking for new places. Effective advertising means that you never stop looking for new places to be active in. New forums to participate in, blogs to comment on, social networks to socialize on should always be found.

I try to find new places on a weekly basis and begin working with them. This helps me not only be a part of different conversations, but also spread out who I am and what I do.

10. Get away from it. Effective advertising means a fresh outlook. This fresh outlook energizes you to continue advertising and not get burned out or turn it into a despised activity. Getting away from the computer, your business, any type of marketing at all will only give you a greater desire to accomplish more when you return. One day away is not going to kill you. Some might disagree and think you need to be advertising 24 hours a day. While that might be productive it is counterproductive to your effectiveness.

Just get away from it every once in awhile. Take a day off. Enjoy the fruits of your labor. Enjoy your family. When you get back to work the next day you’ll accomplish more and enjoy it more.

Here’s the thing.

I love sports. I am both a player and a coach in several different sports. On top of that I am also the programs director for my town’s rec. center. I love sports. I watch it. Play it. Coach it.

And I always play to win.

So when I am working with someone and their internet marketing campaign, the goal is to win. Yet, there are times when I just get the feeling that the person I’m working with really doesn’t want to win. Their desire isn’t in the winning atmosphere. It’s more like, “Ehhh.” That drives me absolutely crazy.

I am currently coaching a middle school boys basketball team. We are in the middle of our season and have the opportunity to win our last remaining nine games. I know we can. In fact, I can see it. I dream about it. I breathe it. Everyone I talk to, I always mention how great these boys are and that we can win the last remaining games. But…

There are some on the team who just don’t… well…. want to win. Drives me absolutely crazy.

Online advertising is a sport that requires constant practice.

The only way to get good at anything, no matter your skills, is to practice. I am a very firm believer that anyone can be good at anything. Maybe not the best, or elite, but good. I have seen very out of shape, un-athletic, un-coordinated people become pretty good athletes because they had desire and determination coupled with visionary guidance.

Online marketing is not something that you can succeed at right off the bat. Sure, there are those times when everything clicks and things seem to work brilliantly. But, for every time that happens there are countless thousands of times when you have to sweat, bleed, and throw-up (sorry for the graphic) for every bit of traffic you receive.

Practice is essential in online marketing. Most would call it “testing”, but I like practice better. Over and over again there is tweaking of landing pages, ads, ppc campaigns, blog templates, ad positions, affiliate pages and other advertising projects that you’re never done.

That’s probably why I love it so much. I love to practice!

Online advertising is a sport that requires the right equipment.

One thing I always tell all the athletes I coach is to make sure they have the right (best) equipment they can afford. The benefits outweigh the cost everytime. For instance, in basketball I want my kids with the best sneakers they can get. Not street shoes, but honest to goodness basketball shoes.

The ones who do that always thank me for telling them to get them.

When working on an advertising campaign I will always instruct clients to use each piece of advertising material they can, even if it will cost some money to use it effectively.

For instance, some clients just want to use article marketing because it is free. I can understand that, but you’re limiting your exposure to just that medium. When you could use email ads, PPC ads, and paid placement on websites. It may cost a little more, but the benefits outweigh the investment.

Online advertising is a sport that requires a winning attitude.

I touched on this a little at the beginning of this post. If you’re not going to believe in yourself, your services, the products you’re selling, or your capacity to learn new things, you are eventually going to fold up and fade away.

Attitude is everything. In sports, in life, and especially within internet marketing. You must go forward, even when it feel like everything is stacked up against you, and believe and win. That’s hard to do when you are losing money, losing sleep, and losing confidence.

My basketball team had a game this year where we were down by 16 points at halftime. The team we were playing were faster, taller, and had two really good ball handlers and outside shooters. The boys were feeling down and had already resigned themselves to losing. I would have none of it. I told them I knew they could win. I knew that they were a good team and that the individual skills they had were far better than our opponent. They saw that I really did believe it. Their attitude changed. They went out and put on a dazzling display of basketball and won the game by 10.

Your attitude is going to determine whether your advertising campaign will be a big win or a devastating loss. A winning attitude is not an option. It is required. You must have it. There is no such thing as passive advertising. Sure, you can set up a ppc campaign and pretty much leave it when it is working good, but there will come a time when it begins to falter. That’s the point when you need to work on it. But, in the meantime you should be keeping up with the trends so you’ll know how to fix it when it begins to lose momentum. That’s where you attitude comes in.

If your attitude sucks then you won’t spend any time checking your stats, looking into buying trends for that niche, looking at your conversions, and how people are responding to your product or service. You won’t know how to fix anything. You’ll just get frustrated. But, a winning attitude will help you keep on top of all that.

Play to win this marketing game and you’ll see tremendous benefits instead of tragic losses.

Granted, I realize that a winning attitude doesn’t just happen overnight. It takes work and it takes determination. But, if you work at it, little by little you’ll begin seeing that attitude take shape. I believe anyone can succeed. Anyone can win. You can win!

The obvious question now is, “How do I get that winning attitude?” Well, that sounds like another post. You’re gonna have to check back to see how you can do that. I promise it won’t be long, but just to be sure you don’t miss it, why don’t you subscribe to the RSS feed for this site.

Remember, play to win and never… never give up.