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Getting Started Online THE RIGHT WAY Guide - Part 3 of 4
By: Natalie Williams
This Getting Started Article is in 4 parts.
This is Part 3 of 4
To view Parts 1, 2 and 4 please do an Author search on Go Articles for Natalie Williams
The full, hyperlinked version of this article can be found at http://www.GettingStartedOnline.com
Put your "to sell" book on ClickBank
The initial cost to open a Vendor ClickBank account is $49.95. Note, this account is only if you want to SELL something through ClickBank. If you are just selling the products of others… your account is free.
Once you set up your ClickBank account, you are not listed in the Marketplace until one of your product is sold, so you may want to go ahead and purchase one yourself, so you can get listed. You receive all your money back minus the ClickBank fee with your next commission check.
This is optional and probably best for later on. As explained earlier, ClickBank handles the transaction of selling digital goods (software, eBooks, etc). People who are interested in becoming affiliates visit ClickBank to look for products they want to promote and sell. So if your product is listed on ClickBank, people will want to sell your item for a commission. ClickBank charges a $49.95 fee to put your item on their site. Your item will then be place in their "Market Place", available for people to browse and purchase OR they will become your affiliate and sell your item for you.
Advertise the heck out of everything
(Lots of free, but good ways to do this)
eBay Listings: Example of a listing of mine: http://www.cidicon.com/sellerstools/FastAffiliate/examples/ebaylisting.htm
Notice near the top of my description, I have two Bonuses listed. One is offering some free information that some people try to sell on eBay, which I feel is a scam. The auction visitor can click on the email address and send a blank email and I have an auto-responder set up so that an email is automatically sent to them with the free information plus a link to my website offering "More Free Resources".
The 2nd bonus is for the visitor to be able to download my previous eBook for free. Some day, this eBook will be offered for free as well. My eBooks are always filled with links to my website.
eBay "About Me" Page:
Here is my current "About Me" page on eBay
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/misssecretary
I have information about my websites here. However, I also have a link that states "In a hurry? Click here and you will be emailed information". That way, I can hopefully capture people who clicked over to my "About Me" page, saw the amount of information and didn't feel like reading it right then. When they click the link, they just fill in their email address and I have an auto-responder set up to email them different things over the next 2 months.
eBay Leading Auctions
Leading auctions, to me, are a way to auction items and it's nice if they sell, however you are after the bigger picture of enticing them to your website. You most likely will have the same items for sale on your website anyway. Use eBay for an inexpensive advertising tool. As I said before, with 500+ visitors to my auction listing, I feel it is money well spent. And if my item sells, all the better. So I never feel I've lost anything with my auctions. Also, with a leading auction, I don't worry about making a profit on the item and therefore can sell it for less.
Auto Responders
Ahhh, the magic of auto-responders. There are many programs around that offer auto-responders for a fee, of course. DO NOT PAY for an auto-responder. Do it yourself and it is free!! I use Microsoft Outlook for my email program. In the program, I can set up 'Rules', so that if I receive email with certain criteria that I set up, it will automatically respond with an email that I also set up. Outlook is certainly not the only program that does this, but if you have the MS Office suite on your computer, you have Outlook and I suggest you use it. Or download the Eudora eMail Program for free I have listed in the "Software" section. Check the companion website for instructions on setting up auto-responders.
Message Boards
Join and contribute, use your signature to promote
Most message boards will not allow you to advertise or 'spam', which is a good thing. There are ways around this. Just put some information in your signature link and post away. Don't just post anything. Answer questions, get into the conversation.
Free For All pages
I absolutely do not recommend these. When you submit your site to a Free For All link site, or worse a service that will submit your site to thousands of FFA link sites, it only serves the purpose of giving thousands of companies your email address. Then the major spam starts. When your site is submitted to these FFA's, you are agreeing that you will receive email from them, so you are bombed with literally thousands and thousands or emails. If the temptation is too great and you must do it, please by all means, get a free email address somewhere and use that when you submit. On the flip side, you may want to set up a Free For All Link page on YOUR website, then you will have the advantage of receiving emails from the people who add links to the page.
Other auction sites/Free to list sites
There are many auction websites where it is free to list items. Take advantage of that for free advertising.
Advertise on related newsletters
Be selective. Search for eZines you think your web customers would read. Advertise in them.
Offer exchange advertising on your newsletter
Search the eZine databases for other eZines that compliment what you are doing and offer a link/advertising swap with the eZine owner so his subscribers see your ad and your advertisers see their ad.
Send out your own newsletter
Put in new stuff from your website
On one of my websites, there is a link for "What's New". It is automatically generated by my site and shows me a list of the newest items I have added. When it's time to write my Newsletter, I simply visit this page and copy over the newly listed resources, articles, etc.
Check with the affiliate programs you've joined because many offer articles with your affiliate link attached so that you can put the article in your newsletter.
Add free stuff in your newsletter. People love anything free. I have many free things I can offer, and if my visitor purchases something from the company or applies for a trial version, I receive a commission.
Add content to your newsletter:
In this ebook, I have linked many sites that offer free content for your website and newsletter. These sites are searchable, so you can find an article on just about any subject you need. Always add the authors information. You'd want YOUR info added later when it's your article someone is going to put into their newsletter.
Submit articles to others newsletters and websites:
Just as you will be using other people's articles, you can submit your own articles to these websites. Then other eZine authors may use your article with your information and website link in their newsletter.
I am going to supply you with links to some of the places I have advertised using the above mentioned methods. Keep in mind, I have targeted sites that I would most likely find people who are interested in MY website theme: Working from Home/Selling online. However, MANY of these are great advertising vehicles for anything you sell.
These are all linked from the online version of this article, http://www.gettingstartedonline.com
Contest Alley
Add your contest for free
Freebies For Women
Add your Freebie for Free
Work at Home Parents
Inexpensive advertising on their site
e-Business Moms
Submitted my "Success Story" for free
JaffaMSOnline
Submitted my Free eBook to their ebook listings
Moms Online
This site offers a lot of free ways to advertise.
Moms Online Contest Prize Donation
Donate a prize for their contests and receive free advertising
eBook Directory
Submit your eBook for free
Yahoo Message Boards
Free to post
eZine Database
Post your eZine/Newsletter for free
GoArticles
You can submit articles you write for free, adding your bio/website links in the article. People download these articles to put in their newsletters and/or on their website.
Media Post
Search for any type of advertising you would like: Web, TV, Radio, Newspapers. This is an excellent tool, especially when you are ready to do a press release.
Link Promote
Submit articles for free.
WorkAtHomeBooks
Add your free eBook here
Workathome-com.com
Add your Inspiring Work-At-Home story here for free and add your links.
eZine-Universe
Submit your eZine for free
Submit Listing
Submit your website and eBooks for free
Google Search
A Google Search set up so it found websites that accept Free eBook submittals.
Bizy Moms
Join this site and post on the boards.
Club Mom
Join this site and post on the boards.
WAHP (Work At Home Parents)
Join this site and post on the boards.
WebMomz
Join this site and post on the boards.
WebDecals
Have a decal made for your car. I put one on the back of my car with a URL leading to a separate page on my site to track the visitors. I get about 10 new subscribers a week from this method.
Constantly be on the look out for ways to promote yourself.
Whenever you are surfing around, if you see a product that would compliment your website, search around on their website for a link that says "Affiliates", "Associates", "Resellers", "Make Money", etc.. Join their affiliate program, add a link on your website and add their information to your Affiliate accounts list.
If you see a message board, post a message.
Join every club you can find. Yahoo Groups, AOL Groups, MomsNetwork.com, InternetBasedMoms.com, HomeBusinessDirectory.com, etc… you can always find these free. Don't just join and forget it… post at LEAST once a week. If it's a fast moving message board where your message will be cycled down to the bottom in a day, post every day.
Add your free ebook everywhere you can find that will accept it.
Subscribe to Newsletters that allow free advertising to new subscribers.
Never stop thinking.
Sell YOURSELF. Do not sit anonymously behind a website. Be out there, post on your message boards, introduce yourself, put up a page "About the Owner", maybe with a picture. It's better if people know you and trust you. And don't mis-use this trust. I have a directory of wholesalers and drop-shippers for sale on my website. Sometimes people from different countries will email me and ask if the directory would be good for them. I tell them absolutely not. These companies ask for US business licenses or Resale Certificates and only deal with US companies. So I will not just try to make a sale when I know I am deceiving the person.
This is where the work never ends. Don't ever stop advertising yourself. Whenever you are on the internet, be on the look-out for message boards, free advertising sites, link exchanges, etc.
Create a text document containing the following:
A short description of your website
(About 30 words or less)
A long description of your website
(Up to 250 characters)
List of keywords pertaining to your website
An example of what you would post on a message
board, keeping it short and adding a signature line with
your website address
This document comes in handy when you are posting information around the internet, so that you don't have to keep re-typing them over and over.
This Getting Started Article is in 4 parts.
This is Part 3 of 4
To view Parts 1, 2 and 4 please do an Author search on Go Articles for Natalie Williams
The full, hyperlinked version of this article can be found at http://www.GettingStartedOnline.com
About the Author
Natalie Williams is owner of over 22 websites and a successful work-at-home mom. She runs her full-time business from her home office, is an eBay PowerSeller and dedicates her time to helping people who are new to the Internet succeed online without falling for the scams and Infomercials.
http://www.GettingStartedOnline.com
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