Advertise, Do not Spam
There is a fine line between advertising and spam and unfortunately many business owners do not understand the difference between the two. This is important because while a cleaver, well planted Internet marketing campaign can help to attract new customers and keep existing customers loyal, spam is likely to alienate both new customers and existing customers. This can be extremely damaging to profit margins for the business owners. This article will take a look at a few basic Internet marketing strategies such as banner ads, email campaign and message board posts and describe how each can quickly cross the line from cleaver advertising to spam.
Banner ads are one of the most popular strategies which accompany an Internet marketing plan. These ads are usually ads which appear at the top of websites and span the width of the website. It is from this appearance that they earned the name banner ads but actually banner ads can refer to ads of a variety of different sizes and shapes which appear in an array of different locations on a website. In many cases the business owner purchases advertising space on these websites but the banner ad may also be placed as part of an exchange or an affiliate marketing campaign. Banner ad exchanges are situations in which one business owner posts a banner ad on his website in exchange for another business owner posting his banner ad on the other website. These agreements may be made individually between business owners with complementary businesses or as part of exchanges facilitated by a third party. In the case of affiliate marketing, an affiliate posts and advertisement for your business in exchange for compensation when the banner ad produces a desired effect such as generating website traffic or generating a sale. The terms of these agreements are determined beforehand and are generally based on a scale of pay per impression, pay per click or pay per sale or lead.
Now that you understand what banner ads are, it is also important to understand how they can be overused and appear to be spam. Judiciously placing your banner ad on a few websites which are likely to attract an audience similar to your target audience is smart marketing, placing your banner ad on any website which will display the ad regardless of the target audience can be construed as spam. Internet users who feel as though your banner ads are everywhere they turn will not likely take your business seriously and are not likely to purchase products or services from you as a result of your banner ads.
Email campaigns can also be very useful tools in the industry of Internet marketing. These campaigns may involve sending periodic e-newsletters filled with information as well as advertisements, short, informative email courses or emails offering discounts on products and services. Loyal customers who opt into your email list will likely not view these emails as spam and may purchase additional products and services from your business as a result of this marketing strategy. Additionally, potential customers who have specifically requested additional information on your products and services will also find this type of marketing to be useful. However, email recipients who did not request information are likely to view your emails as spam. Harvesting email addresses in a deceptive manner and using these addresses to send out mass emails will likely always be considered to be spam.
Finally, message boards provide an excellent opportunity for business owners to obtain some free advertising where it will be noticed by members of the target audience. If the products and services you offer appeal to a specific niche, it is worthwhile to join message boards and online forums related to your industry of choice. Here you will find a large population of Internet users who may have an interest in your products. You might consider including a link to your business in your signature or posting the link when it is applicable to the conversation. However, care should be taken to carefully review the message board guidelines to ensure you are not doing anything inappropriate. This technique is smart marketing. Conversely, replying to every message with a link to your website when it is not relevant to the conversation is likely to be construed as spam by other members. Once they begin to view your posts as spam, they are not likely to visit your website via the links you post.
The most popular and powerful niche to make and automated internet income in. This one is a multi-BILLION dollar market and is barely being tapped into online!
One reason that so many people want to work from their homes is that there in no need for a large financial investment to begin an online business. One doesn’t need to invest heavily in product development. Those who have expertise in almost anything can begin by simply writing an e-book and promoting it or obtaining a website and promoting products that are produced by others. Think of the people who promote products that are produced by others as the modern version of the old door-to-door salesman except instead of knocking on one door at a time they knock on the doors of millions of people at the same time by way of the Internet.
Another attractive reason that draws people to a work-at-home job or small business is the fact that they don’t need to incorporate….a sole-proprietorship does nicely. One person working from one computer these days can accomplish the same things that once required many people working many hours to accomplish. A sole-proprietorship business isn’t required to file separate tax returns or pay any special taxes on income that is earned in the way that a corporation, an llc or even a partnership business is required to do. The taxes levied on a sole-proprietorship business are just for personal income.
The Internet isn’t called “The Information Super Highway” for nothing. A person can make a very good living selling nothing but information on it. The populations of every industrialized nation in the world have learned that if you want to know anything about anything, you get on a computer and ask the question. They have also learned that you must pay for special information and they are more than willing to do just that. A person who has special knowledge of a subject and could be considered a ‘guru’ has a market for selling that information on the Internet. All that needs to be done is to set up a website, publish the information, advertise and sell the information. It’s a wonderful concept and information is a wonderful commodity. There is no inventory to maintain and no shipping or handling costs involved to deliver the product. Everybody gets what they want. The seller gets paid for delivering information to a person who wants that information….everybody is happy.
There are so many advantages of working from home for the individual as well as for owners of large businesses that it is truly the way that ‘work’ will be done more and more in the future.
Does Your Passion & Hobby Really Matter?
Does your passion or your hobby matter? Well, it most certainly matters to you and unless you have a passion or hobby that nobody else in the world has ever heard of, there are probably plenty of other people who share your passion or hobby and may even more into it than you are.
Being deeply involved in a hobby or passion is the stuff that successful niche marketing is made of. Most really successful niche marketers have turned what the care about the most into successful businesses. The reason for their success is their passion about the theme of their websites.
Creating a successful niche marketing site takes a lot of time and a lot more dedication. Unless you are passionate about the subject, it is hard to stay focused on it long enough to make it a success. So passion and dedication are your two biggest assets. You must be willing to put in long hours and be willing to accept the fact that it will be quite some time before you start realizing a profit…even a modest one. Keeping on keeping on is the only way you will ever be successful at niche marketing.
You can establish a money-making niche marketing website with the theme about the very things that you love the most. If you can correctly define your niche, make certain that people are willing to pay for the product or service that you are selling, and locate that specific audience; there is no reason why you can’t build a niche marketing site that is all about your greatest passion or the hobby that you most enjoy. Imagine that! Being able to make money and do what you love doing at the same time. It doesn’t get any better than that!


