It can be overwhelming trying to evaluate every online business opportunity that comes your way.

It seems there’s another one each day and of course, they all claim to be the latest and greatest opportunity the world has ever seen.

I have been starting and building businesses online and off for over 30 years now and have made 7 figures in both online and offline businesses.

Here’s my quick guideline that will allow you to evaluate any online business in just a few minutes.

For an online business to make any money, you need three things:

1. product(s) to sell

2. traffic to your offer funnel/landing page

3. a conversion process that converts visitors into customers

Let’e address each one separately.

PRODUCT

You really need to have a product line or group of products to sell, not just one product. Ideally, you have a low end, easy entry product under $10 and then other products of higher costs.

The reason why is you need multiple products in order to have a high enough customer value to justify the marketing expense to get traffic.

This is why selling the typical low priced affiliate offers from clickbank, commission junction, etc will not work for you unless you already have a large list you can promote your offers to for free.

The best combination is a business that has low priced products, medium priced products ($100 – $500) and also high ticket products ($1,000 and up).

Even better is if some of the products are monthly subscriptions so you have ongoing cash flow.

Who do you think will be better able to afford the marketing costs to get visitors to see your offers – someone with a one time sale product for $27 or someone with a product line ranging from $10 to $3,000?

One program I’m in has just this – with monthly subscription products at $25, $47 and $100 and 4 more one time purchase products ranging from $500 to $3,500. I’ve seen customer values as high as $800 in this program. See it here.

Who’s going to win in buying traffic – the person who can’t pay more than $15 to get a customer or someone who can spend $500 to get a customer and still make a $300 profit!

So the bottom line in the product section is to calculate what your customer value is and how much you will be able to spend to get a customer.

If the number is too low, you will not be able to buy traffic and therefore have a hard time expanding your business past your current sphere of influence.

TRAFFIC

You are going to need traffic to your offer to make any money.

If you have a large list now and a lot of followers on social media, you will be able to make some money selling anything, but I’m assuming you don’t.

Buying traffic by the click will typically cost 70 cents to one dollar per click/visitor.

The offers you might see to bring your site one million visitors for $100 are worthless – those programs don’t work and you will lose your $100!

Explaining all the different methods people use to claim to bring you cheap traffic is beyond the scope of this post – all you really need to know is that they don’t work!

So, what about free or “organic” traffic?

That’s the best traffic you can get but it takes time and expertise to get it. Learning SEO, social media marketing and other free methods is definitely a good idea but is not going to get you any immediate sales.

All in all, building your own list of people who know, like and trust you is the absolute best long term plan and you should start doing it, just don’t count on it for short term revenue.

But, that said, having the products and the traffic will do you no good at all without . . .

A CONVERSION FUNNEL THAT WORKS

If you bring people – free or paid – to a landing page that doesn’t get opt ins or to a funnel that gets opt ins but no sales, you’re dead in the water.

So, unless you are an expert in building these funnels, look for a program that has a funnel in place with proven conversion numbers.

When you buy cold traffic (from people who don’t know you) you may get 30% opt in at a landing page but only end up with 1% or less in terms of customers.

That tells you right away – if your visitors cost $1.00 each, 30% opt in and 1% of those buy, your cost per opt in is $3.00 and your cost per sale is $300.

So we’re back to what is a sale worth to you – if it’s $500 or more in this example, you’re good. If it’s $15, you’re toast . . .

Naturally, it’s important to measure the conversions at each step of a process and work to improve them over time. The analytics are critical. There are plenty of programs to set up split testing to find out what works best, but you can get a general idea just from the description here.

I’ve had landing pages getting a 3% opt in that with testing and tracking have gotten all the way up to 40%. That makes the difference between making money and losing money.

click here to see the program I’m currently promoting.

We offer a $7 trial of the system we sell so you can see how it all works and decide if it’s something you might like to do.

If you do decide to get involved, I’m here to help you with it each step of the way. You can reach me by phone at 720-890-8760 or by email at joemcvoy@gmail.com

The Internet has become central to many peoples’ lives, and business need to start focusing on online marketing. The advice and information contained in this article will help you learn, even if you are just a beginner. Follow these tips to be successful at Affiliate marketing.

You should take the time to look at how others respond to your content, promotions, and even your business as a whole. When launching an online event or promotion, you should be aware of the way your visitors react on blogs and forums. Use this advice to show your customers that you listen and incorporate their suggestions.

Looking for a way to market online? Try and find ways to get your site visitors to give up their email address so you can come up with an opt-in mailing list. Offer freebies or contests and ask them if you can send them future emails. People are more likely to provide you with their email addresses when it is apparent that doing so is beneficial to them.

Use AJAX and Flash only minimally. It may be aesthetically pleasing, but it will not add additional search engine results. Flash should be used liberally, and additional keywords and links should be more prominent.

While a flashy site looks great, try to make sure it is not too distracting. You only have a few seconds to engage your potential customer and give them a reason to stay on your site. If it takes a long time, the reader will go on to someone else’s site.

Offering customers a discount after they spend some amount of money can help attract more business. For example, if your customer spends more than $200, give them a 10% discount. This is one of the best methods to encourage people to purchase more of your products.

There are interesting psychological studies available to you about Affiliate marketing and site design. Aspects of your website, like the colors used and the overall layout, can have major effects on how consumers react to your brand. When you understand how this works, your profits will improve.

Giving customers the opportunity to sign up for your Ezine is a highly effective online marketing technique, especially if you know how to create an Ezine that helps you build a relationship with your subscribers. One way to start building relations is by adding personality to your Ezine with the use of pictures of your staff. You should let them know about the people who run your company. Your article’s subject line is important. Titles that promise to solve a specific problem are always popular reads.

If you want to be seen as an authority in your field, compile a glossary of terms. This is a great tool for both current and prospective customers. Many people who are looking for your terms will ultimately find themselves on your website. This will give you a large amount of exposure, which will make you a trusted expert.

If you want to get the most out of your Website marketing efforts today, they need to include social media sites. Facebook is a very popular option, and it’s free! Customers can leave feedback on your products, make suggestions, and ask questions. Twitter works great when you want to communicate with your customers.

For new marketing websites, sites that have a small number of quality pages do better than sites that attempt to pack in too much information. Start with a small site to achieve the best search results. If your site has a million indexed pages, search engines are more likely to pass it by in favor of sites with a few thousand pages.

It is important to find the correct niche when you are marketing an Internet business. You cannot sell any baseball cards to a person that desires the vintage Star Wars toys. People are going to look at specific niches to locate the product they want to buy. So before you go rushing to advertise your business to whomever it may concern, make sure you narrow your focus in order to improve the end results.

Look for ways to determine what types of emails are best-suited to your customer base. Do some split group tests. Develop an email marketing campaign, and make one slight change in the actual email. These could be using different phrases for your subject or two different calls to action. Send one campaign version to one group of customers, and the other to an equally-sized group. Then, document the success of each. Track which email got the best results, and use this information to improve your emails in the future.

Create a video featuring you using your product. This allows the customer to see you utilizing the product. Show every benefit and some unadvertised features of the product. You can post these videos on a personal blog or a video hosting site such as YouTube.

It can be intimidating at first but the world of internet promotion is well worth the efforts that it takes to learn. By incorporating all you have learned today, you can generate more profits for your business and be on your way to grabbing a hold of a lot more customers.

You don’t know all there is to know about Affiliate marketing. Website marketing is constantly evolving, and there will always be much to learn. Within this article are tips to help your efforts in marketing on the Internet.

Customers should be able to provide a rating for products in your listing. Additionally, at your discretion, you can allow them to write a review of a product they have purchased. By having a system in place for product review, you will be providing both you and your customers with important information. You can determine which products to hold in stock and perhaps adjust your pricing or marketing accordingly. Customers will also have more trust in both your service and the product they intend to purchase.

Regular blogging can really infuse your affiliate marketing with success. Frequent blogging is a great way of keeping your potential customers informed and up to date about your business. Blogs also give your website a lot of extra content, which appeals to search engines and will improve your rankings.

Increasing the traffic to your site and improving your visibility to search engines means that you need to provide unique and useful content. Online retailers with common products should especially note this, as there is more competition in the search engine. Writing your own product descriptions and including appropriate keywords can help you blow past your competition.

Try giving away stuff from your site. For instance, you could offer up a free and informative article. A download like this may get a lot of people interested. For example, if you are in the construction industry, your customers may find home improvement tips valuable. Besides enhancing your reputation for knowing your subject, this also demonstrates your willingness to share your knowledge and help your visitors.

Give site visitors the option of signing up for your newsletter or e-zine. This can be a smart technique to help you maintain an interactive relationship with your website visitors and prospective customers. Include personal family photos of yourself or your employees. Try adding short humorous inputs about home life and employee relationships. Keep the reader curious by having an eye catching subject line that will grab their attention.

Submit free materials to the various online directories who will list them without charging you. Several directories, for example, have free e-zines. These sites include free site directories, article directories, e-book directories and dictionaries, as well as many others.

Getting listed in Google is essential in any Affiliate marketing strategy. Although there are other search engines, Google is hands down the most-used engine out there. A failure to advertise with Google might just mean your business will fail. If your company comes up near the top of the list, you can dramatically improve your visibility.

One key part of your Internet promotion strategy should be keeping tabs on your competition. Investigate what your competitors are doing, and assess both the strengths and weaknesses of their strategies. There is much that you can learn by watching the actions of others. Obviously, focusing on how the competition is doing can ultimately help you to become a better, more efficient marketer.

See what people are saying about your brand, then use them for future website marketing plans. This allows you to establish a rapport with your customers using their vocabulary. By using the right language, you will be able to reach the right audience.

Try adjusting content and content delivery so that customers feel like they’re in control. This is essential to today’s online world of unwanted opinions and spam. Be clear that their participation is optional and you will increase your credibility.

Try and make your marketing campaign personal. Try using your name in ads or your picture. It might be a good idea to have some sort of handwritten statement that welcomes your visitors to your site.

Luckily, there is no shortage of great information out there to help you improve your Internet marking strategy. You don’t need to study intensively. These simple acts are just a start. There are plenty of informational sources online that are simple and easy to understand that will help you become a better Internet marketer. Continue to learn as much as you can and you will see the results with your Website marketing rising to new levels.

One vague way to describe the business relationship you will maintain as an affiliate marketer is the word partnership. The parent company might not offer much assistance, but you still must put in the hard work. Both you and your partner will benefit once you learn how to work with their audience. Hard work is great, but sometimes not enough. The advice provided in this piece may be the guidance that has thus far been lacking.

Create an e-book, and then post it to websites established for document sharing. Attract all kinds of people with your e-book and lead them to your website. Include your links to your site in your e-book.

When you are selecting affiliates, it is important that you know your customers. If your a shoe seller, why would you want to advertise dish detergent on your site? Your targeted visitors have a specific thing in mind, and that is why they are visiting your site. Keep your target audience in mind when choosing ads.

You should never attempt to hide your participation in an affiliate program from your readers. Your audience will be much more receptive to your affiliate links if you’re honest about their purpose.

Affiliate Links

Make wise and cautious choices in regard to the affiliate links and products that you want to promote on your website. It may take a while to figure out the best way to configure your affiliate links, but once you have found a successful method you will see more profits.

Don’t get too satisfied once you start making money. Your job at that point is to figure out how to keep making more. Keep striving for greatness. Creating more blogs or websites can be an avenue for even more money. Keeping your affiliate marketing profitable requires you to always keep generating new income streams and following up on new opportunities.

If you want a great boost in affiliate advertising, promote through other programs that are targeting the same audience. You can provide your visitors a variety of places to go if they have plenty of links.

Check to see if any affiliate programs you participate in have referral programs. Certain businesses will offer better compensation if you refer other people to their company. You many even be eligible for a percentage of sales commission for any business you refer. If you are striking it out on a new frontier or you have connections within the industry, you may be able to generate sizable profits this way.

As you set out to build your affiliate marketing program, you should always start small. You will have better understanding of how to achieve success in the process. You can establish a knowledge base before targeting more aggressive and selective markets.

Stay positive when writing your online marketing materials. Even common phrases that are sort of negative like “worry free” can put customers into a negative frame of mind. g.

Affiliate networks offer a number of desirable advantages. These are great tools for connecting web owners to great advertisers. A webmaster who values his business reputation will only work a with reputable network. Established networks will help give your business a good reputation.

Tracking Service

Make sure the tracking service that you use is reputable. It’s possible for affiliates to miscalculate your sales, resulting in a loss of profit for you. Constantly use a tracking service that is legitimate in order to save yourself from this dilemma. It may cost you a little more upfront, but can really save you money in the long-run.

As you establish links to affiliate partners, consider which topics would likely be of ancillary interest to website visitors. How about a water bottle with a strap so they can bring it out, too?

Achieve the confidence of your browsers. When your readers appreciate the content of your site, they are more likely to click on your referrals.

You’ll want to know how orders not processed on your affiliate company’s website are tracked. Some companies allow orders to be made my mail or phone. Those orders are only connected to an affiliate ID if actively mentioned. In these scenarios, you could miss out on commissions.

Find yourself a good accountant. You can hire a person, or go through a program. Having some knowledge of accounting is useful in determining whether or not you have been paid correctly. Have this set in place at the beginning, so that it is ready for use.

You should not be looking to steal customers from others, but instead present your own business as the best option to fulfill any potential customer’s needs. The aforementioned advice has demonstrated how you can chase success for your own small business.

When you first enter the world of affiliate promotion, you may feel overwhelmed with how much there is to do and learn, but you’ll soon see it’s not as hard as it first seemed. Web referral tech has made great leaps in effectiveness and can bring ease and savings to your program. You can use the advice outlined in this article to help you with your affiliate marketing plan.

Using text services will help affiliates to do well and earn commissions. This help in writing text is becoming popular among affiliates. It gets information to customers about the products they sell.

Only promote services and products you know about and truly recommend. When you make suggestions to customers it will reflect on you. The quality of the products and services you promote will determine how much trust your potential customers place in you and your business. Endorsing quality products is an excellent way to keep your good customers and attract new ones.

Have a basic knowledge about accounting practices. There are software programs that can handle this if you do not want to hire a person. Whatever form of accounting you choose, it will help you make sure you’re getting paid all that is due to you. Make sure that your account program or accountant is ready to go before you start anything.

Your affiliate status may suffer if you choose to market some of the web’s most popular products. Of course, every affiliate should focus on quality products, but this won’t guarantee profits. If you choose a very popular product, then you will find yourself in the midst of fierce competition. By focusing solely on products that are being sold all over the web, you’re likely not to make a profit at all.

The most sought after commission in internet marketing enterprises is known as a lifetime commission. Lifetime commissions are very difficult to find. They are an excellent deal, though, so be on the lookout for such programs. It is more common to see affiliate vendors paying the webmasters a standard commission for any product that they helped to sell. Generally, a commission is paid if a product is bought withing a specific time frame. These commissions are worth hunting down if you think you can get your hands on one.

Try using pop-under ads instead of pop-up ads. Some browsers block pop-ups but not pop-under ads. Most pop-under ads have better responses than pop-up ads.

Use paid ads for more profits. Purchase the ads that use your keywords in order to drive people to your site. In addition, you will have more potential buyers that have indicated an interest in what you are promoting.

All of the content that you produce for web marketing needs to contain positive language. g.

In order to be successful with affiliate marketing, you need to know the most efficient marketing methods. Too many people are impulsive and join teams with the first internet marketing opportunity they run across. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but you should be aware of which methods are the most effective regardless of cost.

Be open and tell your visitors that you do earn commissions when they purchase through your affiliate link. Your readers can tell how affiliate links look like and hiding this fact will cause them to lose their trust in you. By being honest from the beginning, you are more likely to gain repeat visitors and customers for your affiliates.

Learn who your audience is so that you can be a successful affiliate marketer. You must work on meeting your readers needs. Why are they reading your website? What is it they are there to see?

Once you have become successful and are making a good salary from this, ask your program directors for a raise. If your affiliates see that you are earning them money and using effective marketing techniques, they will want to keep your business, even if it means raising your commissions.

It may take a while to find the advertising program that works best for your niche. Some clients could react better to an advertisement that is more glitz and glamour. Others, however, could react better to a more laid-back approach. The taste of your intended customers should be a high priority when you design your advertising strategy.

Using the products yourself increases your credibility when you begin an online marketing campaign. Promote your thoughts on the effectiveness of the product by commenting on reviews and posts regarding it that are online. There are many forums in which you can chat with other people about the usefulness of the product. Link your affiliate site when you upload content to the internet.

There are not the same costs or complexities associated with online marketing as there once were. Follow this advice to keep your costs low while creating a great affiliate promotion program.

There are many different techniques in web marketing that are effective in producing results, and the methods you choose depend on your level of technological capabilities. Take a look also at what product you are planning to market and who would be interested in it. Affiliate marketing is not spamming everyone you can find and trying to turn a profit. It is a requirement to implement a well thought out plan, and to understand who you are trying to communicate with.

Using text services can help you earn profits. While a new service, many affiliates are already using them to keep customers informed and for further boosting their products.

People will eventually unsubscribe from your emails, and you will need to go out and find new customers. You can gain new customers by using the emails that have performed best in the past.

When deciding on products to sell for your affiliate partners, focus your marketing efforts on the people who would most likely purchase these products. Low cost products can succeed through high-volume sales. If your product is high end and more costly, your strategies will need to be even more focused on converting visits to sales.

Before signing on with an affiliate company, confirm that you receive a commission for every kind of sale the company offers. Check to see what type of orders they track, such as regular mail and telephone orders. Be certain you are receiving the funds that you are owed.

This can be vital if you have an elderly audience, such as baby boomers. Not all customers can read smaller fonts. Making font sizes larger can help you get a sale.

Including things such as pictures and videos in your review makes the product more appealing and makes you more money. Multimedia will help more people become motivated to purchase the product you’re offering. Include details in your review. People need to know exactly what they are buying, especially if they can not actually touch it or use it before the purchase.

Use as many avenues as are available when advertising your affiliate wares. There are some customers who search online for products. Some prefer to be able to hold the ad in their hands as they do their shopping so fliers and sales sheets could work best for them. Coupons are also a great way to attract potential customers. Advertising your goods in different kinds of venues will help you get a bigger audience.

Implementing the ideas delineated above will help you pull in the right individuals and maximize your profit potential. As you gain experience, you will refine your strategy so that it is most effective. It is very important that you know the basic ideas and keep it simple when you can.