================================================================ More4you Newsletter ... more tips, training & tutorials for webmasters & entrepreneurs. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Everything you need to make your website & business a success! ******************************** Issue 81 - March 01, 2003 ******************************** Published & edited by Frank Bauer www.add2you.com www.add2it.com & www.add2it.de www.million-mall.com & www.million-mall.de ================================================================ The More4you Newsletter is delivered by subscription only. Subscription and removal instructions are located at the end of this newsletter. Table Of Content: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 1) Good Morning... ! 2) Sponsor Of This Newsletter Issue 3) First Article: "4 Simple Fresh Approaches To Triple Profits!" by S. Kumar 4) News & Changes At Add2it, Add2you & Million-Mall! 5) Second Article: "Learn How to Pre-Sell Effectively and Sell More" by Frank Bauer 6) The Question & Answers Section 7) Advertising Information & Classified Ads 8) Newsletter Notes & Policies ================================================================ 1) Good Morning... ! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- I also like to welcome you to the 81st issue of the "More4you Newsletter"! Today is Saturday, the 01st of March, 2003. The current number of subscribers is: 4908 February has been the shortest month... but also busiest month of this year... at least so far. :) On the 4th of February Add2it Mailman Free & Standard 1.82 have been released. To read about the changes, please visit: http://www.add2it.com/scripts/mailman-free-history.shtml & http://www.add2it.com/scripts/mailman-standard-history.shtml Then on the 6th of February Add2it Go-To Free & Pro 1.11 have been released. To read about the changes, please visit: http://www.add2it.com/scripts/go-to-free-history.shtml & http://www.add2it.com/scripts/go-to-pro-history.shtml Additionally on the 10th of February Add2it Mailman Pro 2.60 has been released. It now has a WYSIWYG HTML editor included and can send HTML & plain text messages simultaneously! To read about all the other changes, please visit: http://www.add2it.com/scripts/mailman-pro-history.shtml But that's not all... the best still comes: On the 19th of February a new web project has been finished: "Do YOU want YOUR choice of a FREE laptop ?" is the title... and it can be reached at: http://www.add2you.com The program is free to join and can earn you the money you need for your own choice of laptop by earning up to 66.6% in commissions on a 4x5 forced spillover matrix. Check it out! OK, now let's get started immediately ... ... have fun, relax and enjoy! Frank Bauer Publisher & Editor of the "More4you Newsletter" ================================================================ 2) Sponsor Of This Newsletter Issue: ´´~`` ( o o ) +----------------------.oooO--(_)--Oooo.----------------------+ | Get the mailing list management script that every publisher | | and webmaster needs to be successful and don't just take my | | word for it... read what many other say about it and | | get your own copy of Add2it Mailman Pro today at: | | http://www.add2it.com/go/to.pl?l=mailman-pro | +-------------------------------------------------------------+ ================================================================ 3) First Article: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "4 Simple Fresh Approaches To Triple Profits!" by S. Kumar -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Ok, you got your order and gained a customer! Congratulations! Your marketing efforts have paid off. What next? Simple -- Leverage it to maximum! One of the most ignored factors after a sale is NOT to have a STRATEGY to retain the customer and to maintain sustained customer satisfaction! Your customer has trusted you and he has bought from you. Now its time to take it to the next level. ...which is "Sustained Customer Satisfaction" Sustained customer satisfaction becomes important in every business. More so on the Internet because of three primary reasons. 1. You can sell more back end products to the same customer with his FULL approval. 2. You can promote different affiliate programs to this customer which he will join on your word. 3. To earn his appreciation! His words are worth of gold to your website. Word of mouth publicity still remains the best promotional method ever discovered. Most of the time when I purchased online all I received was a "Standard Thank You Letter". Cold and impersonal that clearly came across as a routine exercise. Of course I heard from them again when they wanted to promote an affiliate program or a back end product. And this included two known 'Gurus' who never thought of a strategy for - Sustained Customer Satisfaction! Here is a strategy that I adopt on my site http://www.learnhomebusiness.com * Sustained Customer Satisfaction Strategy * - Step 1: I give an unannounced surprise bonus IMMEDIATELY on sale. This puts the customer on a positive frame of mind as more value has been added to his purchase. - Step 2: A "Personalized" thank you email is send to my customer mentioning the support email IDs and BOLDLY reminding him that he is under 100% Money Back Guarantee. He can simply ask for charge back if the product is not up to the standard he expected. (I am yet to receive a charge back for the 38 info products on my site!) - Step 3: Exactly after 4 days I send one more email to him with a simple subject line: "Customer Name, Just Checking on XXX Product". Inside I give him one more SURPRISE gift as well as enquire how the product is being useful to him. His suggestions and opinions are invited for further improvement. - Step 4: After 7 days I send him one more email with a subject line: "Customer Name, Your valued recommendation". Inside he will be requested to RECOMMEND 5 of his friends informing them that he has actually BOUGHT from: http://www.learnhomebusiness.com and they are trust worthy. And just for his valuable recommendation he gets one more "QUALITY" surprise gift! Please remember here that this "Recommendation" form is meant only for your customers and this is not the usual "Recommendation" form. * Two Free "Tell-A-Friend" Resources * 1. Here is a free CGI script with advanced features that perfectly lets you implement the above strategy. It has an easy to use web interface, self installing, full personalization, change messages at will and many more. You need not be a techie to use it. http://www.learnhomebusiness.com/aff/refscript.htm 2. You may a get a free "Tell-A-Friend" facility from http://www.bravenet.com/. This is a rather simple one but serves the purpose. * Final Tips on Sustained Customer Satisfaction Strategy* 1. Make sure that your gifts and bonuses are valuable. 2. Write your emails with full emotion and gratitude for the customer to whom you are indebted for that all important Sale. After all its because of him our business thrives or survives. 3. COMPLETELY automate your email follow-ups with an autoresponder. Once you do this all that is left will be to add your customers email ID to your Autoresponder. List of free autoresponder can be had from: http://www.learnhomebusiness.com/freestuff/autoresponderlists.htm I hope you have a simple workable strategy now that you can implement immediately. -- Copyright 2003: S. Kumar, http://www.learnhomebusiness.com Author of eBook: "Become A Global Homebusiness Pro..." Download It FREE From - http://www.learnhomebusiness.com ================================================================ 4) News & Changes At Add2it & Million-Mall: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- This section will keep you updated on all important news and updates regarding: www.add2you.com www.add2it.com & www.add2it.de www.million-mall.com & www.million-mall.de Below you find out about the 16 most important news & updates during the month of February. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- English / Englisch: 02/02/03 - The latest issue of the "More4you Newsletter" is now online available in the back issues section at: http://www.add2it.com/news/issues.shtml 02/04/03 - Add2it Mailman Free & Standard V1.82 have been released. For complete lists of new functions, please visit: http://www.add2it.com/scripts/mailman-free.shtml http://www.add2it.com/scripts/mailman-standard.shtml 02/06/03 - Add2it Go-To Free & Pro V1.11 have been released. For complete lists of new functions, please visit: http://www.add2it.com/scripts/go-to-free.shtml http://GoTo-Pro.com/pro 02/07/03 - New recommended resources section now added. Please visit it and submit a resource that you want to recommend at: http://www.add2it.com/resources/ 02/10/03 - Add2it Mailman Pro V2.60 has been released. For a complete list of new functions, please visit: http://www.add2it.com/scripts/mailman-pro.shtml 02/19/03 - "Do YOU like YOUR own choice of a FREE laptop ?" This new web project got finished and allows everybody to join for free and to earn up to 66.6% commissions on a 4x5 forced spillover matrix. This way you earn the money you need for your own choice of a laptop... please check it out at: http://www.add2you.com 02/19/03 - The list of "Free Things on the Internet" got updated at: http://www.million-mall.com/free.shtml 02/21/03 - Several great new network marketing programs have been added at: http://www.million-mall.com/network-marketing.shtml 02/28/03 - The "Frank Bauer's - Downline Building Team" program has been discontinued. It is now be replaced by the new program at http://www.add2you.com. 02/28/03 - The business tools page got updated at: http://www.million-mall.com/business-tools.shtml -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- German / Deutsch: 04.02.03 - Add2it Mailman Free & Standard V1.82 wurden veröffentlicht. Um die kompletten Listen der neuen Funktionen zu sehen, besuchen Sie bitte: http://www.add2it.com/skripte/mailman-free.shtml http://www.add2it.com/skripte/mailman-standard.shtml 06.02.03 - Add2it Go-To Free & Pro V1.11 wurden veröffentlicht. Um die kompletten Listen der neuen Funktionen zu sehen, besuchen Sie bitte: http://www.add2it.com/skripte/go-to-free.shtml http://www.add2it.com/skripte/go-to-pro.shtml 07.02.03 - Neue empfohlene Hilfsquellen Abteilung wurde gestartet. Bitte besuchen Sie sie und fügen Sie Hilfsquellen hinzu die Sie empfehlen können unter: http://www.add2it.com/hilfsquellen/ 10.02.03 - Add2it Mailman Pro V2.60 wurde veröffentlicht. Um die komplette Liste der neuen Funktionen zu sehen, besuchen Sie bitte: http://www.add2it.com/scripts/mailman-pro.shtml 21.02.03 - Mehrere grossartige neue Network Marketing Programme wurden hinzugefügt unter: http://www.million-mall.com/network-marketing-d.shtml 28.02.03 - Die Business Tools Seite wurde aktualisiert unter: http://www.million-mall.com/business-tools-d.shtml ================================================================ 5) Second Article: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Learn How to Pre-Sell Effectively and Sell More" by Frank Bauer -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- If you've been around the Internet long enough, you've most likely read stories about affiliate marketers making obscene amounts of cash. So, you rush to their web site, find out which program they are promoting and sign up. But, you usually don't make anywhere near the amount of cash that you thought you would. See, it's not the product that makes you a successful affiliate. It's how you promote the product. You have to learn the five crucial marketing tactics that highly successful affiliates like Allen Gardyne of AssociatePrograms.com use to make thousands of dollars every month. Following is your blueprint for marketing any affiliate program on the Internet and making more money than ever before! 1. Define a primary product and your most wanted response. This is where most affiliates fail right off the bat. They sign up for multiple programs and create a banner farm or some resource site full of affiliate links. Then, they direct untargeted traffic to a web site with no focus. Instead, choose one product that is a proven seller and pays at least 25% commission - the Add2it Affiliate Program pays up to 50% on two tiers or the Add2you Program pays up to 66.6% on five tiers. Create a clean, fast-loading mini-site with one to three pages and drive targeted traffic to that site. Then, sell related products to your customers and prospects who didn't buy your primary product. Usually, your most wanted response is a click-through directly to a sales letter for the product you are promoting. Nothing should distract your visitors from taking that action. You need to get your visitors to click through and buy the product while they are still hot and ready to make a purchase. Note: Never link to the main page of an affiliate site and make your prospect find the product. Link directly to the product page. You may decide that your most wanted response is to have your prospect subscribe to your newsletter or request a free report first. If that is the case, then everything you write should focus on that one response. 2. Develop a follow-up system and sell back-end products. Depending on the product, for every 100 targeted visitors you send to your site, 1-10 of them will buy. But, what about the other 90 or so who didn't buy? If you don't funnel them into your follow-up system, you could be losing thousands of dollars every month! You can follow up with these prospects and claim your lost sales by using timed (followup) autoresponders and/or adding them to your mailing list. You can use e.g. Add2it Mailman Pro, Standard or Free to manage your mailing lists and Add2it AutoRespond Pro to manage you timed (followup) autoresponses. A recent study conducted by Sales and Marketing Executives International concluded that 81% of major sales are closed after the fifth contact. Timed (followup) autoresponders are a great way to educate prospects and help them make a decision. You could offer a mini-course about how you used the product to better your life. Include the research that you did and explain how the product helped you. If you don't have a mailing list now, you need to start right away, using e.g. Add2it Mailman Pro, Standard or Free. Your list will become the "bread and butter" of your business. If you provide quality information and recommend quality products, your subscribers will buy through you again and again. Your back-end products should always be related to the primary product you sell. Again, buy the product, do the research, and make a recommendation based on your personal experience. If a back-end product turns out to be a good seller, you can create a web site just for that product and sell your original product as the back-end product! To recap, your most wanted response is a click through to the product's sales letter. Your second most wanted response is to funnel your prospects into your follow-up system. The single most effective method is to add a popup window that only opens if the customer leaves the site (or one that pops up under the loading page). In this window, you will make an offer in exchange for an email address. Here are some ideas for your offer: Offer a free report, ebook, or mini-course related to the product you sell. This is very effective because it educates the prospect on the very thing they were looking for in the first place. Tell them they won a free advertisement in your ezine (new subscribers only). Depending on the product, this can be a good "foot in the door." Offer a contest for some prize related to the product you promote. The content that you send to these new prospects should always be related to the product/s you sell. If your content is too broad, you can not keep your prospects focused on the information you provide. 3. Buy the product and learn everything there is to know about it. In some cases, it may not be necessary to buy the product. For example, if it is software and there is a demo you can try. But, in most cases, you will be better off if you buy the product and prove to yourself that it works. There's nothing better than a personal testimonial from the heart when it comes to promoting a product. Do your research. Learn everything you can about the product, the company the industry, and the competition. Read everything available on the companies web site. Subscribe to ezines that cover material related to the product. Hang out in forums and see what others are saying about the industry. Find quotes from well-know experts who endorse the product or industry. Use the search engines to find competitors. Stay informed! 4. Write copy that pre-sells your visitors and calls them to act now. Do not try to sell your prospect directly at your site. Instead, give them your personal recommendation. Nobody wants to be sold on a product just to be sold again when they go to buy it. Here are some ideas for effective pre-selling: Write a review of the product with a testimonial and personal recommendation. That will make them more responsive to the sales letter when they click through for more information. Include a third-party survey that supports the product. Always include a link to the source (open in a new window). Include a price and features comparison of the product against competitors. Tell how you did the research and found it to be the best deal in price and value. Write it from a third-party perspective. Don't try to sell. Include quotes from well-know experts in the industry. For example, Declan Dunn says "Affiliate programs are the wave of the future." This shows that you did the research and found that "experts agree." However you write your pre-sales copy, make sure it is in the form of a third-party recommendation and give your visitor a reason to take action now. Ask for the click! Here are some ideas that will increase your click-through ratio: Give them a deadline. Stay updated on any special offers your affiliate manager is running and deadlines that may apply. Then pass that information on to your prospects. For example, "They are having a special on the product right now. If you buy today, you will save $50.00 off the retail price. Click here!" Offer a personal money-back guarantee. For example, "If you are not completely satisfied with the product, I will personally see that you get a full refund." You have to be careful with this approach because it can appear like you are trying to sell. Offer a bonus for purchasing through your site. For example, "Purchase this product today (show the date) and I will give you a report that shows you, step-by-step, how I used this product to make $5,000 in two months ." Again, this can seem pushy. Try different approaches until you find the one that results in the best click-through ratio and stick with it. Note: When you find something that works, don't change it! 5. Direct targeted traffic to your site and measure results. This final step is probably the most misunderstood part of a successful marketing plan. Whether you sell your own product or someone else's, you have to have traffic to make money. However, generating untargeted traffic to an unfocused site is a waste of your time and money. Don't even start promoting until you have completed the four steps above; especially if you are paying for traffic! It's an exercise in futility and will eventually result in the demise of your entrepreneurial spirit and possibly your online business. Choose one form of promotion and perfect it. Most people try to do too much at once and never get good at anything. Focus on one thing at a time. Test, test, test, and then test some more until you create a system that can not fail to generate sales and put money in your pocket. For example, choose a few ezines with large subscriber bases and place the same ad in each one. Develop a tracking system that will tell you, not only how many visitors you received, but how many of those visitors were converted into sales and how many of those visitors acted on your second most wanted response. Only then will you know the true value of the advertisement. Next, change the variables and measure the difference in response. Change your headline or the content of your ad. Try a top sponsor ad instead of a classified. Try different ezines. Make adjustments in your system until you are satisfied with the results. Being satisfied means making a profit! Once you perfect an advertising system, you can confidently "plug in" new products knowing that you will make a profit. Then, you can take those profits and invest in new promotion methods that will bring you more profits. I can't tell you what type of promotion is best. That depends on the product you promote, your skills, and your aptitude. However, I will tell you what works and what doesn't. Following are the only free advertising methods I recommend: Write articles and get them published. Rick Beneteu wrote a great book called "The Ezine Money Machine" in which he describes his success as an online publisher. I highly recommend it. The basic idea is to write about what you know and tailor your articles for specific ezines. Submit your articles to ezines with large numbers of subscribers who are looking for what you sell. Submit your articles with free reprint writes anywhere that will accept them. Submit to article directories. Create HTML pages from your articles and submit them to search engines. Link to your articles in newsgroups, forums, and ezines. Soon your articles and your resource box will spread throughout the Internet like a virus. Create an ebook using the articles that you write. This is the ultimate viral marketing tool because you can slap an attractive book cover on it and offer it free to your subscribers with free give-away rights! Any kind of viral marketing tool. Use your imagination. If you can think of something related to the product you sell that people truly need, give it away for free and encourage them to give it away to others. Include a signature in every email. Include links to the products you sell, articles and ebooks you have written, and anything else you promote. Don't be shy. Your not pushing it at anyone. Following are the best paid advertising methods: Ezine Advertising is going to give you the best bang for advertising buck if you target and test like I illustrated in the example I gave you earlier. In my experience, a top sponsor ad will bring you more visitors per dollar than a classified ad. Pay-per-click search engines. While I personally think this method is a little over rated, it is still a low-cost and measurable way to advertise. Just make sure that every keyword you bid on is directly related to the product you sell. The top nine search engines of this type are Goto.com, Findwhat.com, Bay9.com, 7search.com, goClick.com, BrainFox.com, Kanoodle.com, SearchFeed.com, and Epilot.com. Now let's move on to search engines... There's been so much controversy over search engines in the past few years that I am not going to say much about them here. You can download the ebook "Search Engine Success" if you want to learn more. I will say that they can bring a tremendous amount of free traffic over time. I've been playing the search engine game for more than six years now and today my advice is simple and direct: optimize, submit, and forget. Let the search engines do their job while you advertise, test, and perfect your marketing system. Learn how to optimize your pages as you build them. Submit to the major search engines and directories and then get back to promoting your site with the measurable and predictable techniques outlined above. End of story! -- Frank Bauer is the owner of Add2you.com, Add2it.com & Million-Mall.com, and webmaster of the "Would you like your choice of a FREE laptop?", "Scripts & Service for Webmasters" & the "Frank Bauer's $1,000,000 Web-Mall" websites, and is also publisher & editor of the "More4you Newsletter"... Wouldn't you like more tips, training & tutorials for webmasters & entrepreneurs? Get the monthly published More4you Newsletter for free! Everything you need to make your website and business a success! Subscribe at: http://www.add2it.com/news/ or send an email to: -- (I know... you are already a subscriber of this newsletter... ... but if you want to re-publish this article in your newsletter, please keep the above resource box as it is. Thank you.) ================================================================ 6) The Questions & Answers Section: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Each issue, we are going to post a new question of interest for all marketers and the best answer(s) to the question of the previous issue. The question for the next issue: -------------------------------- This time I have some very interesting questions for all webmasters and entrepreneurs. Please be so kind and answer a short survey in regard to ad types, click through's, opens, roi and affiliate program url's at: http://www.add2it.com/news/more4you-survey.shtml The result will be published in the next issue. You have an interesting question you would like answered? Please submit it also at: http://www.add2it.com/news/more4you-survey.shtml -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The question of the last issue: ------------------------------- Last issue I asked you to answer a short survey in regard to web site traffic, how to build it and how to get quality. The results of the survey: -------------------------- 1. Where can I get visitors... and build traffic cheaply? (Question submitted by: David Harvey) Audra Gehrke: "The best way to get targeted visitors I believe is by using ezine advertising. It's also the cheapest way to get your ad in front of thousands for little cost. There's plenty of co-ops where you can buy an ad for say $5 to $10 and your ad will be placed in multiple ezines. The only drawback is you have to subscribe to the ezines for your ad to run. Some think this is a pain but I happen to think differently being a publisher myself. So you get subscribed to some ezines. Do you know that ezines are the most valuable asset online for new and updated information? I'm subscribed to many ezines and they all have valuable info in them. The questions that are asked in this ezine, you can find most of the answers in ezines. That's what we do, we provide info that is tested and proven to work. You won't find many publishers who are untrustworthy. We all work hard to provide the needed information for everyone. That's why we became a publisher, to share information with others. :)" Bob Funkhouser: "Purchase and use SubmitWolf Software." Available at: http://www.add2it.com/go/to.pl?l=submitwolf James D. Davies: "My best luck so far is to make sure that the content on my site reflects my keywords so that I get high rankings on the search engines." Robert: "www.hitsengine.com ... its 1/2 the cost of most for the same service try it." Lee Karjala: "Try Google Adwords program to get more hits. Publish an e-mail newsletter and put a sign up page on your website. Promote your website in every piece of literature you use in your business. BTW: High search engine placement is the key to success. Study constantly what others say about keywords, meta-tags, descriptions and content for your website. There is still much to be learned every day." Patti Ballard: "I use a start page traffic exchanges, safelists, and through conversations in forums. BTW: It is my belief that the main rule is that there are no rules. What works one time may not work the next." Dave Reno: "I only buy traffic from one source. http://www.cash-giveaway.com The site is owned by Frank Garon of internetcashplanet.com fame. THAT is the only reason why I think the quality of the visitors is so high. The majority of the folks visiting Frank's lotto site are also subscribers to his main newsletter. We hit right at 300-400 new subscribers and 5-10 extra direct sales from every 1000 visitors purchased. You can't beat those numbers!" Warren Contreras: "Be careful what you ask for. All cheap traffic does is increase your bandwidth usage and cost you money. What you need is qualified traffic, people who are actually interested in what you have to offer. I would rather have 10 visitors that would conference with me and seriously consider my offer than 10,000 hits a day." Sylvia Kolenda: "If you have something to give away that is preferably downloadable [saves work] and valuable to your market then do that. Combining it to get email addresses [tell them in advance about it] for an upcoming newsletter or for site updates and don't force them to sign up to get the freebie. Do everything you can to not offend your visitors. Make signing up and if they won't to let them because there will be others if you do your part. It is many times easier to get visitors than to keep them. In your mind remember this as you get the visitors and do the work before they get there to keep them. You want the good ones to return. Always be honest with your visitors. Don't promise what you cannot deliver. Then over deliver every time. Give them more than you promised. Don't be stingy. These freebies can be placed on the freesites for free, also. Brings in a lot of traffic but it might just be for freebie lookers but it is possible to get some keepers. The Free For All sites don't work well anymore except to send you spam. Don't do a free sendout of a phyical item. We did that with a book and ended up overloaded and filled with traffic that did not buy. Be sure your gift is appropriate for your site. You can also check with some of the writers and publishers and get free ebooks that they will let you download from your site. Again be sure it goes with your site. My favorite is this, there are usually good newsletters that would go well with your site that are very cheap to buy ads in. Search on the search engines and take the time to subscribe and receive a few issues before you do an ad. Don't do ads in newsletters that you would not subscribe to yourself. Watch how they do it and get some more good ideas. Always check your competition and see what they are up to. You can get some great ideas without copying from them. Another is to ask other sites for a link. They will usually want you to give them a link as well. Just be sure they have a website that you would visit and come back to. A nice list of links is good to have just do not put them on your first page. Have a separate page for links. Use newsgroups and forums sparsely and only if you have time to answer questions and be helpful. Use them for the value and not just to advertise. Read about them and know what they will and will not let you do. Giving free help is a great way to make you feel good and get some visitors in the process. Let your signature line be your well thought out ad. No blatant ads since they are the same as spam. Never use spam email as this will only cause you untold grief before you get started. Keep up with the top requirments and changes for the search engines. Subscribe to search engine newsletters and pay attention to them. These are a few things that you can 'work' to build traffic cheaply. We have never paid a seach engine and have good listings. It did not cost money but time and work." Dustin Hood: "I trade out space at a pay per click search engine http://www.brainagent.com/ for listings in e-zines and ask that my search link be added to the e-zine owner's site. It works, but it's like the old joke about winning the lottery. 'You have to buy a ticket'. The ticket is owning a ppc search engine. BTW: Just don't be shy about asking for a trade! You can always e-mail me at: dariuswolff@psnw.com" Ed Vilandrie: "Designing your site to be crawled by Google and rank for targeted keywords is the best way to get customers cheaply. It can take up to six months to get crawled. In the short term before you site is crawled using a pay per click search engine and target key words. Look at the search engines which offer low cost pay per click placements such as: AhHa.com" Charlene Horn: "Make an EBook. Say profound things. Put your links in it....covertly. Always use your sig file for your site. BTW: Forgot. Write articles. I guess that would come under saying profound things. Offer them to ezine owners. They like that." Donna Maher: "There are many ways to obtain visitors, the first of which is to purchase them at a reputable seller (http://www.massive-hits.com) and another is Pay Per Click search engines (there are tricks to this... email me & I'll find the ebook about it somewhere on my HD :-), you can join safelists (but be sure to have a trash email if you do!), you also need to write your own ezine or free report & offer it on your site, that builds traffic if it's a much-wanted piece of information. There are tons of ebooks about it, also Jimmy D. Brown's TrafficVirus is an excellent resource (I have it if you want a copy.) and I just started a new biz online with software that will pay for itself in free traffic conversions in no time. (http://misspelleddomains.com). Hope this helps a little!" Wayne Sloan: "Search engines. By all means search engines. That and a little technique I call 'filling the pipeline'. Safelist marketing, Ezine advertising (free and paid), banner exchanges... whatever it takes to get your website in front of as many people as possible. Everyday advertise somewhere. You will eventually fill your pipeline and you will have visitors. All of this can be done very inexpensively." CHIN Cheong Heng: "Start Page or Exit Pages Programs. Not very useful, if you are not patient!" Angus Millar: "Create your own newsletter is a great way to generate traffic and visitors. Also pay per click search engines are proving their worth but you must of course choose the right keywords." Comments: A lot of interesting ideas to get a lot of visitors to your web site and to build your traffic inexpensive. Thank you all who answered this survey... :) 2. What methods do you find work best for getting traffic to your site(s) and which ones generate the most sign-ups? (safelists and lead lists for me) (Question submitted by: Gail McDonald) Audra Gehrke: "That's for getting traffic but is it targeted visitors? This is where most are messing up. Sure you can get 10,000 hits but how many of those actually buy something from you? This is why we must target our advertising. Safelists aren't what they used to be. They tell you to get a junk email account, well don't you think everyone else on there is doing that too? They used to work good when they first came out but now people just don't seem to read the emails anymore. If you really want to get visitors then use the ezines for advertising. Get a tracking link so you can track where your hits are coming from and what ads are working or not. Lead lists...I've never heard of that. Do you mean where you can buy leads in bulk? If so, I really don't recommend this method because you can get shut down for spamming. Be careful where and who you do business with on buying leads. Some of these places sell leads they get from ffa sites which most of those turn out to be dead addresses anyways." Robert: "I use Overture the cost is high but the results are good. I also have a page view site and a search engine site my charge for both are only $29.00 for LIFE TIME MEMBERSHIP... www.traffic-club.com and www.mrsitesubmitter.com just email me and I will give you lifetime membership for $29 just say on the email $29 lifetime membership: howto@sympatico.ca This will also include a encryption pass for life. BTW: The best and easy way to send out to millions for $20 go to www.siteforcash.com. I have those IP Software with code all your for life at this low price." Lee Karjala: "Same as above coupled with every sales rep we have talks up the website to prospects and customers. We have heavily promoted our website in our yearly catalog of our products." Patti Ballard: "Safelists and through conversations in forums even when you are not conversing with them in particular." Dave Reno: "I'm sure your readers have heard this ad nauseam but it really is true. The money is in the list! The money is in the list! Building your own OPT-IN mailing list is an absolute necessity! I do use safe lists sparingly. But I only use the one's where people are required to pay. The free safelists in my opinion are a complete waste of time. I rate them right there with FFA page/leads. The other option I use frequently is joint ventures with other publishers. This works quite well and is a very cheap alternative to advertising all yourself. Lastly...I NEVER use affiliate links. I always create gateway/splash pages for whatever program/product I promote. And if it is a multi-tiered affiliate program or network marketing opportunity I will create these pages for folks joining my organization. We usually then create an ad co-op and I will install a rotator for the particular gateway/splash page domain so that you can advertise one URL and the traffic is spread out between the co-op participants." Warren Contreras: "Personal invitations and referrals. If you have none like myself when I first started, then I used Traffic Exchanges. I have tested safelists and would rather spend the time to read a book and learn more." Sylvia Kolenda: "The first method is to identify your market and go after that one. If you have pet supplies it would be useless to join newsgroups or forums and try to answer religious questions to draw people. Unless you are qualified for both and if so do this later to connect with the ones who are interested in your pet supplies. Do a small quick read newsletter that is helpful to your market. Genuine help not big ads. Promise them a good and free newsletter and always keep your word. One thing not to neglect and that is this, always have a copy on your website of your newsletters. Since I have done this my subscribes have doubled. Don't just try to get your list built by ads or because you think you should have their information. Have a very good reason for wanting an email address. There are list you can buy but that is an area that you will need great care in. You can spend money for something that is nothing more than Spam. Find a good newsletter with your market for subscribers and use the very best ad you can afford. Advertise in this newsletter or newsletters over and over. People won't notice you just one time on an ad. Check out the person you are advertising with and be sure they have a true opt in or safe up to date list. This will top any list that you buy. If you do buy an email list be sure to check them out. Find out how they come by their names and be sure the people on it knew their names would be sold. Most good subscriber list cannot be bought. IF you would not leave your info with this person or list to sell then don't buy the other people." Donna Maher: "The best thing still, is offering something of great value for free. Have a sales letter even to 'sell' your free report or ezine, too, because of the glut of info on the web today." Wayne Sloan: "Of the two mentioned, I would recommend safelists. But you need to belong to as many of them as you can manage. And you have to post regularly on a consistent basis. Buying a mailing list or leads, is probably more effective in the short run, but you run a risk of a Spam complaint." Sheila Cain: "No, not necessarily. Depends on which site I am promoting the most. However, having your own website has many more advantages over using a free site." Angus Millar: "Free offers advertised in forums and newsgroups are effective as is a really interesting signature on all outgoing emails." Comments: Personally I am no friend of safelists. In my opinion less than one in 100,000 actually reads at least some of those messages. Otherwise, thanks again for all the feedback. :) 3. Are you more apt to get visitors with you own domain rather than a free website? (Question submitted by: Elane L. Williams) Audra Gehrke: "It depends really on the sites content. When I first started I used a free host and it worked ok. The main thing you need to watch is, the one I used deleted files from my server without even notifying me. And there's their advertising on your site and most of them have a popup which also turns people away. I say if your just starting out and you want to learn before you spend any money, then yes use a free host. After you learn what you need then invest in yourself and your business by getting your own domain name with a good host. When you do pay for your hosting you will get a lot of extras that the free hosts don't give you. There's always a drawback when you use something for free. BTW: I would just like to say that if your looking to start your own online business, don't expect anything to happen over night. It takes time and lots of it along with patience and determination. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do. I help people everyday. I also started for free so I know it can be done, but it took me 2 years to learn everything I needed to learn before I could really invest anything. I didn't have much money to invest but if you don't invest in yourself, no one else will either. Free only lasts for so long then it's time to upgrade. That's what's wrong with the people on the Internet, they think they can get a free ride for everything on here. If you were to start a business in the real world, do you think you could get started for free and last?" Robert: "You are better to get your own domain as you get your own name and you do not have that big number on the end I do not purchase from any site that has members tagging on the end for extra money." David Miller: "With your own domain name it is easier to be found by search engines." Patti Ballard: "I don't think that really matters. What seems to matter the most is their particular interest." Dave Reno: "Hands down your own domain! If you can't afford $7-$15 yearly for a domain and $5 for hosting...you aren't the least bit serious about your business. You have a hobby! Which is fine...and I know several people who make $200-$500 a month with their hobby. However, if you ever want to make any serious money online...then you have to treat your business AS A BUSINESS!! Your own domain and hosting accounts are the first step." Warren Contreras: "Absolutely yes. You also get more serious email. With domain names going for $8.75 a year I don't understand why it's even a question? You can redirect your email to another free service and host your website for $1 a month so I would think anyone who refuses to would not be serious about being in business." Sylvia Kolenda: "Yes, if you have a site that you want to sell product or service. There was a time that we all had a freebie but it is now cheap enough to have your own. This alone will not guarantee you visitors. You still have to do the work. Free or your own domain there is work that must be done but it is more likely you will receive visitors on your own domain." Ed Vilandrie: "With the cost of domains so low and decent hosting being so cheap, it is absolutely necessary to invest a few bucks into your own domain and website." Donna Maher: "Most definitely, because it shows you are serious about your business. Domain names are cheap and my favorite host is also and they are http://lowesthosting.com" Wayne Sloan: "Your own domain, (joeschmoe.com) if selected properly, gives the impression of a more professional operation. Free websites normally give you a subdomain (joeschmoe.freehost.com). I think you are more apt to have repeat visitors with your own domain. Getting your visitors is a matter of advertising, free website or otherwise." Comments: To wrag it up: The amount of visitor does mostly depend on how much you advertise your website and how good it's listed in the search engines... But the amount of sales (if you are trying to sell or resell any thing... even something free) does depend on how professional you page looks... and there for your own domain is very important. 4. Are you a subscriber of the More4you newsletter? Yes - 92.30% No - 3.85% Don't know - 3.85% ================================================================ 7) Advertising Information & Classified Ads: -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The More4you Newsletter is not offering free classified ads, but you can order classified ad space. If you are interested in ordering classified ad space, please send an email to the autoresponder at: . You will receive the "Paid Advertisement Guidelines" by email. Or simply visit: http://www.add2it.com/news/order.shtml And now let's see the latest ad news... ... yes, ads can be news too. :) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Would you like to know how to get a free 2.2GHz P4 laptop and get it shipped to you for free (worldwide)? 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