The primary goal of any webmaster or blogger is to earn money from his/her website or blog. E commerce websites earn money from e commerce activities. In the case of informational websites or blogs, the main source of revenue is advertising. The following are the different ways to earn money from your website or blog:--
(a) PPC advertising -- PPC or 'Pay Per Click' advertising is the most popular source of revenue for informational websites or blogs. 'Google Adsense' and 'Yahoo Search Marketing' are two major networks under this category. After you sign up with these networks, you will be served with some contextual ads, relevant to the subject of your site/blog. When visitors click on these ads, certain amount of money is earned. The amount of money earned depends upon the level of traffic and the niche of your website or blog. Examples of some profitable niches are mortgages, loans, insurance, college education etc.
(b) CPM advertising -- This is more or less similar to PPC advertising. Here, you get paid according to the page views or impressions that the ad displayed on your site will generate. CPM stands for 'Cost per Mille' which refers to cost per thousand impressions. For example, if your website generates 50,000 page views per month and the CPM is $1, the monthly earning will be $50. The CPM rates vary with the network. The rate may be as low as $0.10 and as high as $10 for one thousand impressions. Some popular CPM networks are: Casale Media, Value Click, Tribal Fusion, Advertising.com etc.
(c) Direct advertising -- If you have got a large website with a very big audience, you can sell your own advertising space. This is very lucrative as it enables you to cut out the middleman commissions. You can also set your own rates.
(d) Affiliate marketing -- Affiliate marketing is also a very popular way to earn money from your website or blog. It involves selling other people's products for a commission. As an affiliate, you are required to send potential customers to the merchant website. If they purchase something from there, you will get a commission. The commission may vary and may go up to 80% of the price (for digital products). Some reputed affiliate marketing networks are Clickbank, Commission Junction, Link Share etc.
(e) Sponsored Reviews -- If you have a blog, you can write sponsored posts on different topics. This is also known as 'Paid Blogging'. Some 'Paid Blogging' networks are PayPerPost, Sponsored Reviews, ReviewMe, BlogVertise, Smorty etc.
In addition to the above, there are many other ways to earn money from a website or blog. Some of these are -- private forums, job boards, market places, pop-up and pop-under ads, audio ads, donations etc.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Six Steps to Build your Opt-in-List
Money is in the list. An opt-in-list is a list of customers who are interested in the products or services which you offer. It is an essential tool for all successful internet marketers. Having a list is like having a ready-made customer group. Let us assume that you have a list of 1000 members and you send out an e mail promoting a $50 product. If only 5% of your members purchase the product, the revenue earned will be $2500. When a person visits a website for the first time, generally, he/she is not ready to purchase anything from it. It takes 3 to 5 times of contact before the person is ready to trust and purchase anything from you. An opt-in-list helps you to follow up with your customers and to gain their trust.
Here are some steps to build your opt-in-list or mailing list:--
(a) Create a separate lead capture page with only a sign-up form in it. Let your visitors know what they are going to get by signing up for your list. In exchange of their e mail IDs, give them something of value, e.g. some e book or e course or some report related to your niche.
(b) A sign-up form should be placed at the top of all the pages which receive high traffic. This includes any blogs which you may be running. Make sure that the visitors are able to see the sign-up form.
(c) A small pop up ad asking for the names and e mail addresses may be used to catch the attention of the visitors.
(d) The lead capture page may be advertised on different traffic exchanges. The members of traffic exchanges are likely to take something which is offered for free.
(e) Audio and video components may be used to direct the visitor to the opt-in-box. Use of these technologies help to increase the conversion rate by about 30%.
(f) Assure your subscribers that you do not spam or sell their e mail addresses. Do not let your visitors click a link to read the 'Privacy Statement'. It should be clearly mentioned on the opt-in-page.
Here are some steps to build your opt-in-list or mailing list:--
(a) Create a separate lead capture page with only a sign-up form in it. Let your visitors know what they are going to get by signing up for your list. In exchange of their e mail IDs, give them something of value, e.g. some e book or e course or some report related to your niche.
(b) A sign-up form should be placed at the top of all the pages which receive high traffic. This includes any blogs which you may be running. Make sure that the visitors are able to see the sign-up form.
(c) A small pop up ad asking for the names and e mail addresses may be used to catch the attention of the visitors.
(d) The lead capture page may be advertised on different traffic exchanges. The members of traffic exchanges are likely to take something which is offered for free.
(e) Audio and video components may be used to direct the visitor to the opt-in-box. Use of these technologies help to increase the conversion rate by about 30%.
(f) Assure your subscribers that you do not spam or sell their e mail addresses. Do not let your visitors click a link to read the 'Privacy Statement'. It should be clearly mentioned on the opt-in-page.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
How to Use Traffic Exchanges to Promote Your Website?
For success in any online business, getting a lot of traffic is the most essential ingredient. Whether you are selling your own product or doing affiliate marketing, you must drive a lot of traffic to your website. The higher the traffic, the higher will be your clicks and sales. There are different ways to drive traffic to your website -- PPC ads, article marketing, forum marketing etc. Traffic exchanges are very effective for driving a lot of traffic to any website. These exchanges work on a credit system. Here, the members earn credits by clicking and visiting other people's websites. For example, for visiting two sites you may get five credits. The credits earned can be used to show your own ads and websites to other members of the exchange.
Sometimes, when you register with a traffic exchange, you are given some bonus credits. In the members' area, you can submit the URLs which you want to be shown to other people. These URLs can be changed later, if required. You can also earn additional credits by referring other members to the exchange. In the members' area, you can keep track of the credits you have earned and those utilized for showing your site to others. Each exchange has it's own rules and systems which must be followed by it's members.
There are two types of traffic exchanges -- manual and automated. In manual traffic exchanges the members are required to surf the sites manually. They have to view each site for a fixed period of time -- which may range from a few seconds to a minute. After this period is over, they have to click a button to view the next site. But, in automated sites (also known as autosurfs), the ads come rolling in automatically, at the click of a button. Therefore, manual exchanges are much better than automated ones as in the latter, there is no guarantee that your ads are being actually seen by somebody. In manual sites, you can be sure that your ads are actually viewed.
The greatest disadvantage of traffic exchanges is that the traffic received is not targeted and the sales conversions are usually very low. A lot depends on the title and description of the ads which are put in. But traffic exchanges have been found to be successful with lead capture pages or splash pages and for promoting multilevel marketing programs.
Sometimes, when you register with a traffic exchange, you are given some bonus credits. In the members' area, you can submit the URLs which you want to be shown to other people. These URLs can be changed later, if required. You can also earn additional credits by referring other members to the exchange. In the members' area, you can keep track of the credits you have earned and those utilized for showing your site to others. Each exchange has it's own rules and systems which must be followed by it's members.
There are two types of traffic exchanges -- manual and automated. In manual traffic exchanges the members are required to surf the sites manually. They have to view each site for a fixed period of time -- which may range from a few seconds to a minute. After this period is over, they have to click a button to view the next site. But, in automated sites (also known as autosurfs), the ads come rolling in automatically, at the click of a button. Therefore, manual exchanges are much better than automated ones as in the latter, there is no guarantee that your ads are being actually seen by somebody. In manual sites, you can be sure that your ads are actually viewed.
The greatest disadvantage of traffic exchanges is that the traffic received is not targeted and the sales conversions are usually very low. A lot depends on the title and description of the ads which are put in. But traffic exchanges have been found to be successful with lead capture pages or splash pages and for promoting multilevel marketing programs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)