Branding is something that very few marketers do, either because
they don’t know how or don’t realize how important it is…or
maybe both.

Ever since I came online, I knew I had to brand myself if I was
going to get anywhere on the Internet. So I decided that I was
going to take a very unpopular route to that brand…I was going
to be the HONEST marketer. I was going to set up sites to expose
scams, put up sales pages that weren’t filled with hype and tell
the REAL truth about what it takes to make a living online. None
of these things are popular with your “typical” Internet marketer
because they believe that people buy hype, buy the promise. I don’t
believe that…and either should YOU.

So I developed a reputation of telling it like it is. Some people
appreciate it and some don’t. I can’t please everybody and I don’t
try to. I simply try to be myself. One person today called me, what
was the word he used?…Ah yes…annoying. Yes, that I can be.

When you decide to begin your business, whatever it is you decide to
do, please consider your brand or how others will see you. It is
more important than you can possibly imagine.

In my next post…more great stuff.

Sincerely,

Brian Dew

Safelists get a bad rap, mostly because people don’t know how to use
them and don’t know what safelists to use. I’ll touch on both points
in this issue.

Let’s start with how to use safelists.

The majority of people use them as a pitchfest. This isn’t going
to get you anywhere. You’re much better off using a safelist as a
means of giving people some good free content that may actually
help them in their pursuit to earn a living online. They may be
surprised to see an email that actually helps them. Get them to
opt into your list by giving them a free report. Then follow up
with more information. Show them that you’re more than just a snake
oil salesman.

Now let’s move on to what safelists to use.

Most safelists are useless because people use throw away email
accounts and don’t read their emails. However, the people who use
credit based safelists have to read their emails because that is
the only way they get to send out their offers to others. This is
your best shot at reaching those who use safelists…sign up with
some credit based ones. Yes, you will have to read emails as well.

Another method is to use the shotgun approach. Use a submitter like IPostAd You’ll only get about a 1% open rate, but when you’re
reaching over 7 million people, it still brings results. But the
credit safelists still work better.

There is an art to making safelists work for you. I’ve been using
them effectively for over 4 years, so it is possible.

One of the best ways to use them is not to sell anything.
Direct readers to your optin or splash pages. Advertising free
to join programs gets good response with this type
of advertising utilising safelists, free is popular with this crowd.

See you then.

Sincerely,

Brian Dew

It is true enough that affiliate marketing is financially rewarding.

 People who have gone through everything to be able to succeed in this business are reaping the seeds that they untiringly sowed.  Many of them enjoy the kind of existence that was not possible for them to have had under ordinary circumstances.  Having gone through the A-Z of affiliate marketing, however, these people are the ones who know that while such business is lucrative, there is absolutely no easy money in it.

Ignorance of this fact is one of the main reasons why there are people who fail miserably in the internet business.  There are those who believe in myths concerning the easy money involved in systems such as affiliate marketing.  They do not know that there are those who have wasted time, effort and too many resources in trying to pursue the life of ease that they believe this business will give them.  And so they go into affiliate marketing armed with nothing but myths and fantastical notions of wealth swimming in their consciousness, never realizing that they bound to make mistakes that would prove to be their downfall.

What may be the reason why in businesses such as affiliate marketing, many are called but few are chosen?  Perhaps the answer lies on the fact that many affiliates make mistakes that result from their ignorance of facts concerning how the entire business runs.  Affiliate marketing is not as simple as an affiliate promoting a merchant’s wares through his website and getting paid for it.  It is also about knowing the market and the customers at hand.

Discovering what the most common mistakes affiliates make can perhaps dispel the gloom about myths surrounding affiliate marketing by correcting some wrong notions about it.  It might also be able to make those concerned understand that like any other business, there are dos and donts involved in this one if they want to make each of their steps count.  The first common mistake affiliates make is their lack of knowledge concerning principles involved in their business.  This refers to the affiliate’s knowledge of search engines in particular and the other types of traffic mediums available.

Affiliate marketing involves advertising, and advertising through the internet could not have been better without the existence of search engines.  What every affiliate has to do is to make these search engines his best friend through studying search engine optimization closely.  This way, he is able to know what to do in connection with building a better website to ultimately use for his business. There are many other ways the affiliate can market as well using video sites and social sites etc.

Another mistake is that affiliates make the mistake of stuffing their sites with banners

Another mistake is that affiliates make the mistake of stuffing their sites with banners that do not provide enough information about the product at hand.  The best way to battle this mistake is to provide good content hand-in-hand with such banners.  It is important for customers to know and understand the features of a product, and good content will be able to help them realize this goal.

And next - there are affiliates who make the mistake of promoting only one product.

 Consequently, customers are not given enough options to choose from.  There is also the risk of generating fewer sales as compared to having more options for customers ponder about.  It is always better to give them a few better alternatives than to give them only one.

Lastly, there are affiliates who make the mistake of promoting too many products.

 As a result, customers are confused and end up beyond making a choice.  It is perhaps good to give them only the best choices.  This is because it is ultimately up to them to judge which one is the best for them to patronize.

All in all, affiliates that are doomed to fail in this business are those who do not exert enough effort to understand everything involved in the industry that they are in.  Knowing their path step by careful step will prove to be beneficial to them, as there is no other way to succeed than to go through any path slowly but surely.

Take action and follow thru.

Till next time,

Brian Dew

I don’t do a lot of pay per click advertising. There is a reason
for that besides the fact that I am cheap, which I am.

The truth is, pay per click advertising is not a plug and play
system. You need to do constant keyword research, test multiple
ads and watch over your campaigns like a hawk. Ultimately, when
you first start a PPC campaign, you’re going to lose money. You
have to be able to ride the losses out until you find the keywords
and ads that work for you. That is the reality of this form of
promotion…It’s NOT easy.

Even using other PPC networks doesn’t make it much better. Sure,
they have cheaper PPC costs, but they also don’t have the traffic
of Adwords. So it takes much longer to test things out. Sure, you
won’t lose as much money, but it’s going to take a lot longer to
see if your product even converts at all.

So what’s the answer? Never use PPC? Of course not. I will be the
first to admit that using PPC advertising is very effective once
you know HOW to use it. I am not an expert. I admit it. However, I
know people who are.

Here are the experts:

http://googlemassacre.com

Sincerely,

Brian Dew

The typical message board poster will simply go to the message
board of his choice and post an ad for his product or service. Well,
that’s pretty much what everybody does there. Nobody bothers reading
the actual posts. At least very few people do. That’s why, in order
to get your message read, it MUST stand out.

How do you do this?

Very simple. You have to pretty much use the same tact as I showed
you with traffic exchanges. You can’t promote your opportunity. You
have to offer some kind of free report and show these people why
they are having so much trouble succeeding with their business.
Trust me, very few of these people are having any success at all.
Your headline or subject line has to stand out from the crowd.

I use something like this.

“Stop Posting To Message Boards Until You Read This”

Trust me…it works. It gets people’s attention. They want to know
what’s going on.

Then, if you offer them something of value for nothing, you’ll get
people into your list. From there, simply follow the procedure I
outlined with TEs. Give them good content on a regular basis and
eventually you’ll start making sales.

It’s all mindset. Once you understand how people think and what they
respond to, this whole process becomes a lot easier.

See you then.

Sincerely,

Brian Dew