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It’s undeniable that the one thing you need to succeed in your online business is traffic. And the best kind of traffic is free traffic. So where do we get free traffic? Google and other search engines.

How do we get free traffic from Google?

The process works in a way that you have experienced many many times. You load up Google or another search engine. Enter in a word or phrase you want to research. Then you click on one of the pages that in displayed. Turns out that the website you visit just got free traffic from the search engine. What need to figure out is how to get you free traffic.

Most people only click results from the first couple pages. Actually, almost 100% of the free traffic goes to this first page of results. And believe it or not, the first 3 results receive over 70% of the traffic.

So, obviously your site needs to be in the first page of results to get free traffic from Google. And this means Google needs to “rank” you as a top 10 result. And this bring us to…

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization is a measure of how well Google and other search engines think your website matches the search terms people are typing into their search boxes. The intricate formula Google uses to figure this out is really only known by Google. However, we do know a few things that count.

Getting indexed

Before your website can begin gaining ranking, you have to alert Google to it’s existence. This is known as being “indexed.” What this means is that Google visits your site and records information about it in their database.

In order to get indexed, Google has to be able to find you. Getting a link from another site will accomplish this easily. Google will actually follow the links on sites it already has indexed to find new sites and index them.

Twitter and Facebook updates are great places to put links to your site. These sites are very popular so Google indexes them multiple times a day. And follows new links it finds immediately.

Gaining ranking

Once you have been indexed, you will start working on increasing your rank. Due to the massive size of the Google database – literally billions of pages – just getting indexed doesn’t do much for you.

The 3 factors in getting ranked:

• Content
• Links
• Activity

SEO content

This is also called on-page SEO. You need to make sure your content matches the search terms you’re going after. Obviously, the article you’re reading now is about search engine optimization. Google knows that not just because the words search engine optimization show up. But also because other related words like traffic generation show up in it, as well.

You also need to make sure the title tags, outbound links and the domain itself match the topic of the page. These all play a part in helping Google determine what your website is about.

Link juice

Next, you need to pay attention to the links to and from your site. The links coming in and the links going out are included in this. It’s very important that you have more links coming in than you have going out. The more inbound links you have the better your ranking will be.

A very easy way to get a lot of links to your site is through article marketing. To accomplish this you start by writing an article that targets the keywords you’re after. Then you have to create multiple versions of this articles. Because you’re going to post a unique copy of it to lots of different websites. And the more you do the better.

Getting activity

And lastly, it’s seems clear that Google expects important pages to be actively updated. A page that was created 3 years ago and hasn’t been touched since won’t rank well. So you need to update your pages often. You can do this with RSS feeds and news posts.

Comments from other people on your page are another fantastic way to keep your content updated. To get comments from others, you need to get others to visit your site. One simple method for doing this is to use forums.

What you need to do is sign up with several forums in your niche. And post their often. Always include a link back to your site. This will get your more inbound links. And it will also get real visitors to your site.

Conclusion

It’s important that you do everything listed here. But let’s face it, writing multiple versions of the same article. Creating profiles on a ton of forums. And posting your content all over the web is time consuming. And you’re already too busy, so you mostly likely will never do any of it.

The good news is that there are automated software programs out there that will do this for you. So the best thing you can do is to automate this process. This way you’ll actually do it. By taking these steps you practically ensure you’ll get free traffic from Google.

Everything you think you know about building an affiliate business is wrong. The tactics of the past few years just don’t work anymore. If you play by the old rules, you will lose this game.

You’ve been duped

Unfortunately, you’ve been led to believe affiliate marketing is easy. This is partially true. It’s far easier that developing, selling and supporting your own product. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Here’s the ugly truth

To top it off you’ve been given false information. The first thing you’re taught is to pick some great products. Next do some keyword research. Then buy some keyword ads that send traffic to the product. And finally get a fat check for all the sales. But this just won’t work!

Keywords are dead

There was a time when this worked. But the competition has shot the price of keywords through the roof. So, throw it all away.

The NEW game

There is a solution to this problem. Here’s how to win at this game.

• Get into CPA marketing
• Instead of researching keywords, research demographics
• Use image ads

Start using CPA marketing

CPA means Cost Per Action. It’s far superior to product promotion. Because your visitor doesn’t have to buy anything. Your commission is generated when they complete an “action”. Entering their email into a form, for example. Which is much easier than getting them to buy something.

Do demographics research

You’re not even going to use keywords (explained below.) Invest your research time into demographics. First, select the CPA offer you want to promote. Next, you go to Quantcast.com. And discover the exact demographics of your ideal prospect.

Use image ads

So far, you’ve got your CPA offer and your target demographics. Display networks allow you to target demographics with your ads. And use images as your ads. No keywords required. The biggest advantage is price. Display networks charge a fraction for image ad clicks vs. keyword ads.

In closing

This is a great way to make money fast. Because getting started in CPA is free. You can buy image ad clicks for a fraction of keyword ad clicks. You can laser target with demographics. And getting them to take an action is much easier than making a sale.

Consider this: What’s the biggest reason millions of people log onto the internet each day? You probably already guessed that it’s to find information. Information seeking is so huge that Google alone hosts 400,000,000 searches every day! Why should you care? Well, this is an opportunity for your to provide what people want – information. And if you do it right . . . to make some money along the way.

What is info marketing?

This is by far the simplest business you can start. You create a product that provides information. And people pay you for the information inside it.. It couldn’t get much simpler.

But how does it all work?

You’ve got the basic concept – exchange info for money. However, to succeed people need to want the information you’re providing. So the key is to figure out what people want. How do figure that out?

One easy way to figure it out is with a simple search. Just go to Yahoo! answers or ask.com and you’ll get a good idea of the kinds of things people need help with. Your goal is to find a common problem. That people are having trouble solving. Then just give them the answer in your ebook.

Think about this:

If you’re worried about how to write and ebook. Put it this way: An info product is just a bunch of articles strung together. Writing a whole ebook can be overwhelming. Just try to write one or two articles a day. And when you have a collection, expand and embellish them and put them together into an ebook.

So, what’s so great about ebooks? Funny you should ask . . . How about 7 reasons why:

1. Ease

As soon as you have the pieces in place, it’s virtually maintenance free. Custom support is all but non-existent. Which means there nothing for you to actually *do*. It really is like and automatic money machine.

There’s no inventory. You don’t have to ship anything. It’s digital.

2. Repackaging

Once you have a few info products created. You can put together bigger more expensive information products. It’s nothing to combine the content from several ebooks. Then you can sell it for a lot more. People will be willing to pay a lot more for one big ebook. Instead of several small ebooks.

3. Private label right

When you own the product, you can sell resell rights to it. This is a very popular topic right now, because most people simply don’t have the time, money and effort it takes to create their own products. And what’s more you get to charge two to three time as much for these rights.

4. Leverage

Leverage means doing something once and reaping multiple rewards. Use part of it to make an autoresponder series. And build your list with it. A list is it’s own reward!

5. More leverage

You can also take parts of your ebook and turn it into smaller eBooks. These reports can then become lead generators for your ebook. They can be free or low prices. And you’re creating targeted leads for your main product all along. Taking this technique to the max, you can let your affiliate give the reports away for you. Which brings us to…

6. Affiliates

This is a real power strategy. Once you have your own product. You can get other people to promote it for you. Imagine having 100′s or 1000′s of other people promoting your products. You can’t do this unless you have your own product.

7. Joint Ventures

I’ve saved the best for last. Setting up joint ventures is the fastest way to gain success. Period. That makes this is the biggest reason for creating your own info products. Because if you don’t have you own product, you’ve got nothing to JV.

Summary

If you can’t see the power of info product marketing, then you’ve probably been sleeping. You’ll become the ruler of your own fate. Because you’re 100% in control. So, don’t waste any more time:

• Visit an “answers” site
• Discover what questions are being asked
• Start providing information

Information product development really is that simple. Before you know it, you’ll have your own info product.

It would be hard to argue against the fact that adding audio to a website increases your overall results. If you’re not using audio on your sites, you’re making a mistake. Adding it raises your opt-in conversions. It boosts sales, too.

What makes it so effective?

There’s no real mystery. Most of the web is cold and impersonal. It adds a human touch to your site. It also makes your site feel more real. Audio literally breathes life into your website. Which fascinates greater interaction from your visitors.

Some more benefits

Adding audio increases your profits in two ways. You’ll convert more visitors into buyers. And second you’ll save money on the sales letter. You see, you’ll be able to skip the expensive copywriter. You can just add your own audio. Your honest message about your product will sell better than a professional copywriter.

You’ll get more subscribers, too. People need to be told exactly what to do. So you just add a simple audio that says: Enter your email address in the form. A simple message like this will increase your opt-in conversions by 305% or more!

Some ways to use audio

A welcome message on your homepage. A warm welcome can be the deciding factor. Your welcome message could make them stay when they would normally leave.

Lead them by the had. Just like in the opt-in example. You just explain what to do first, then next, etc. And take them all the way through buying your product.

Get testimonials for your services and products. It’s good to get written testimonials. But an audio testimonial is better. It’s much hard to fake an audio testimonial. Using audio makes it much more believable. And that increases your results.

Here’s a bonus tip

Something you may not have thought of is using audio for the product itself. This is by far the easiest content to produce. And it still has a high perceived value. Podcasts are still popular, so this is a great format. Plus you can get them transcribed cheap. This is the easiest way to “write” an eBook!

Is it hard to add audio?

It’s not hard at all. You can find a lot of programs that create audio buttons for you. You don’t actually have to do anything yourself. The software records the audio, creates the button code, etc. Just paste the code you copy from the software. There’s nothing to worry about.

Summing it up

Let’s take another look at the benefits. Putting streaming audio on your site will boost all your results. You’ll enjoy more customer sales. And your opt-in rate will increase. And you can quickly produce products and website sales copy. You’ll be one of the few you use these strategies. But audio is a really big time and money saver. Don’t be lazy! Add some audio today.

Yes affiliate marketing rocks, but it’s really hard to get started. The reason is because there is a lot of competition. The challenge is to try and outdo other affiliates and think of ways to do a better job promoting. There’s also a lot of information out there about how to do affiliate marketing, so it can be confusing. Well, here’s on simple thing you can do that will put you ahead of the game.

Video marketing

No one would deny the power and popularity of video. The reason it’s so pervasive is because everyone loves it. Keeping people’s attention is so much easier using videos. So why wouldn’t you use it in your affiliate business?

Here are a few ideas for creating affiliate videos:

• Testimonials
• Walk-throughs
• Ordering
• Sneak peak

Record your testimonial

This is probably the easiest of all. Just click record on your web cam and start talking. Don’t worry about quality. Just seeing another real person endorsing a product helps your viewers decide to buy. In truth, mistakes and mess-ups just make it more believable. You really can just click record and start talking. Use one of the other ideas if you’re feeling shy.

Record a walk-through

This technique works slightly more subconsciously. Make this more like a tutorial helping them use the product. And seeing it being used is a great way to make people want to buy it. If the product is useful, watching the tutorial makes them want to buy it. So pick some really helpful aspect of the product and show how to use that.

Record the order process

This technique is super powerful. Do a screen capture of the ordering process. Watching you make a live purchase will inspire your viewer like nothing else. First of all it’s what’s called “social proof”. Once they see you doing it, they feel more secure. This also makes your viewers trust you. They are much more likely to take your advice to buy when you’ve taken it yourself. And let’s not forget about good old fashioned envy. They see you getting the satisfaction of making the purchase and that makes them want it. You can add additional juice to this one with: If you want to see the inside, you’ll have to order it yourself.

Do a preview video

This is a great way to build value. In this case you record a screen share of the inside of the product. And show them everything they get by ordering. This one also helps to remove the skepticism. Once they’ve seen the back-end, they know it’s real.

It’s easy!

No special skills are required. There are simple software programs that make it easy to create videos. The software really does all the work So you don’t have to worry about the technical part of this at all. Just focus on the benefits:

• Make more money You’ll earn more affiliate commissions when you add video. People love video, so please use them.
• Reduce refunds Less of your commissions will be clawed back, too. Your customers will know what they’re getting into ahead of time. So less of them will ask for refunds.
• Beat your competition! This is such a simple technique. But pretty much no one does it. So, you’ll be way ahead of the crowd.

Get started right now and take your affiliate marketing to the next level. It’s your profit that’s affected by not taking action.

Honestly, everyone making money online has an email list. This is the most important factor in your long-term success. Because you can market to your list whenever you want. Just push a button and print money – literally.

Now you now why. Here’s how:

Here’s what you need to build your list:

• Your Landing Page
• Your Bribe
• Your Confirmation Page

Your Opt-in Page – Your opt-in page is the page you send visitors to to build your list. This page is the one that asks them for their email. So, obviously it has to be well designed. And have an easy to understand opt-in form. And your call to action must be clear!

The biggest mistake you can make is not having a clear call to action. Your call to action tells the visitor what to do. Without this your opt-in rate will plummet. Oddly, if you don’t make it clear, people will be confused and end up doing nothing.

You can take your opt-in page to the next level if you make it a video squeeze page. You only have a few second to get your visitors attention – video helps! Plus it give you a chance to tell them to opt in multiple times. And after the video, you can make it just say “fill in the form now”.

If you don’t know how to make video, don’t worry. You can hire freelancers to do this for you for a few hundred dollars. You can also find ready-made list building tools that have everything pre-built for you.

The Incentive – The next thing you need is an incentive to subscribe to your list. You have to give people a compelling reason to give your their email. Nobody likes spam, so most people guard their email closely. So make your “bribe” a good one!

You have to provide value in your bribe for it to be good. Then it becomes something people want to get from you. And will be able to actually benefit from it. A few ideas:

• An eBook
• Some useful software
• Videos
• An email series

It all boils down to content. It’s got to be something helpful for your new subscribers. And nothing sells like “free”. Bottom line is it’s got to be worth more to them than their email address.

Now, if you don’t know how to create the bribe don’t worry. Here again, you can hire freelancers to create this for you. Simply tell them what the topic is and they can write the content. One easy and effective bribe is a 5-part email training series. You can have ghost writers create emails for under $25 an email. And whole thing will only cost a hundred and fifty buck.

You can also get email list building tools that include the premium. Two critical aspects of using a follow up series. First of all it has to give the subscriber what you promised – valuable information. And second, it needs to make you money. The easiest way to do this is to market affiliate products in the emails. Affiliate products are easy because you don’t have to do anything at all. And make money right away from your list.

The Opt-in Success Page – The “thank you” page is the final piece of the puzzle. After subscribing to your list, your visitor is redirected to this page. A great thing to do here is provide some immediate value. That way, they feel glad that they gave you their email address. And it helps you establish the relationship. So when they get your email, they’re happy to hear from you.

You can use a “done for you” email marketing system. Or you can go the DIY route. And do your own writing for this content. Or pay a freelancer to write the content for you.

Summary

It makes no difference whether you build your opt-in, bribe and thank you page. Or if you hire people to do this for you. Or if sign up for a “complete package” solution. The important thing is that you build your own list starting now. Because as soon as you’ve got your own list . . . You can basically write your own meal ticket.