I'm putting together a free (ok, maybe, free) e-book on advertising and marketing. The following is a rough example. It needs some ironing, but it is getting there.
I'm posting this for two reasons: To help others, and to get reviews.
If you think I'm full of bean dip, tell me why.
If you think I am missing something here, tell me why.
Enjoy. Or, not.
Beginning of e-book:
I'm not much for the same ol' advice, such as overrated search engines, and link exchanging, blogging, social networks, Digg, and whatnot, because, quite frankly, those sources don't bring in that many quality, targeted people on a consistent basis. Er, I mean, the kind of numbers we all want.
*salivates and rubs hands in greedy fashion*
I can hear it now. "Rose, you're so full of ****, I need boots just to read your material!"
My, that is deep, ain't it?
That's fine. We are all entitled to our opinions. But many know the reality of it all. I don't need nor do I want to convince anyone.
It's just smoke and mirrors, because many posters mentions the same ol' stuff, time after freakin' time, not really knowing for sure themselves. It's like a stuck record.
If you hear about it so many times, then it must be true, right? It must work. ... Right?
Somebody, please, kick that record player.
You want a lot of consitent, REAL traffic.
Hello? You still with me???
If these sources bring in huge amounts of traffic, don't you think there would be more people doing it, and saying that they get hundreds of thousands of hits a month???
Now, don't get me wrong here and start throwing beer bottles at me. I don't advise people who I talk to about advertising to NOT do it, because it does indeed bring in traffic, but your goal is to make money here so you can quit your job, right?
Your main focus should be on traditional advertising, with a few imaginative ways thrown in. Like, renting space on a tractor trailer, and have your ad go to city to city, or, creating an infomercial, and bringing in sponsors to pay for the air time.
Did I spell "infomercial" right?
The real secret to bringing in A LOT of consistent, targted visitors, if you can really call it a secret, *cough* is to find Websites that have very low rates, and making sure that the visitors may like the product. Get enough of them lined up like ducks on hunting day, and make the big smackaroos through volume.
That's it, boys and girls.
You want the right sites, obviously. Afterall, you don't want to advertise fishing tackle in a site for women.
But, first, check to see if your site can sell, and if the product is priced ok. Ask others to review it.
Also, start off small when advertising. Start with Google, and other search engines. The reason being is that if you can't get any sales, there is a problem with your site and or the product.
It's better to lose a fist full of dollars, than four fist fulls.
Once you get your site rockin and sweatin' like Elvis Presley, THEN start advertising on other Websites.
There are a lot of Websites out there that have good traffic, while selling space at a very low rate. It's unbelievable the number of high-traffic sites that are out there and the owners sell their space for pennies on the dollar because they don't know any better.
They can have, say, a half a million monthly visitors, but they don't think they can get the price they really want. They are afraid of scaring off potential advertisers.
The hard part is finding them. You just have to do a search on a bunch of keywords that best match sites that have visitors who would like what you are offering.
Check out DavesDaily.com. I think they do at least a half a mill. Check out their rates. Pretty low, if you ask me.
And, of course, let's not forget the smaller sites. Multiply 10 sites who have only 100,000 monthly hits, and that's a grand total of one million hits.
Whew! ... I'm excited already!
Ok, sort of.
Now comes the real math....
Let's just say, for example, you are advertising on 20 sites, each one charging you $300 a month. From each site you make a profit of, oh, say,
$50. That's $1,000 a month.
Not much, right? But, sorry, that is pretty close to the reality of most advertising.
Besides, cousins, it's a start! Like the 17-year old on the couch with his date, let's not get impatient. It can backfire on you.
Professional advertisers know that the real money comes in volume. The savvy ones advertise in as many cheap places as they can, and making the real $ through volume.
You don't have the start-up $ for advertising? Who says you need thousands? Start with just one site for a few hundred bucks. Or start with search engines. You have Google, Yahoo, MSN, AltaVista, Ask....
Add those little suckers up, and that could, COULD, be enough to get you started on the bigger sites.
Look at Sam Walton. He started off with one tiny store. Look at him now.
Ok, ok, he's six feet under, but you know what I'm talkin' about here.
If you can get some profit from that one initial Website, or several at a time, on a continous basis, THEN move on to the next site(s), then the next, and then the next. Before you know it, you'll have a long line of cheap sites to advertise on.
Ok to call you "Sam" at that point?
Also, see what your competitors are doing. Which sites are linking to them, and then contact them to see if they would also sell you space.
When looking at sites to advertise on, look for advertisers who are selling products similiar to yours. Keep a record to see if their ads are consistently up. If so, get your butt in there, and pray to the advertising Gods that it works for you too.
Yeah, yeah, this can take a few months, but that site isn't going anywhere, right? You'll be busy with other sites, and when the time comes, swing your ass, er, I mean, yourself, back to that site. You just nailed another site for your money train.
Choo choo.
Now, how do you know how many visitors a site gets? You really don't know for sure, and since many site owners like to tell tall tales, well, you really can't take their word for it, either.
I like to use http://www.trafficestimate.com/results.html.
Granted, it's not accurate. ... Duh. ... But many times it can put you in that ball park.
Okay, now, what if you don't have two dollar bills to rub together? (Man, that's rough. What the hell are you doing with yourself?) Then the question is...how can you get the start up $??? Hmmmm....
-Part time job. All you need is just enough to get you going, so you need only to work a few months, if that.
Wash dishes if you have to. Screw it. Who cares? It's only for a few months, if that.
Some of the most famous multi-millionaires started off on such jobs.
-Cash in a stock, or whatever you have at that moment.
-Sell the dog.
Ok, maybe not that one.
-Borrow from a bank, friend, boss, relative....
-Steal. (You didn't hear that from me.)
-Sell your stuff. Hey, your crap could add up to a sizeable $300, right? Right? Uh, hello???
-Donate plasma.
-Find someone who will loan you the money for part of the profit. Askmen.com started out back in 1999 on a Angel venture loan.
Of course it doesn't have to be that big of a loan, but you get me here.
Now I know many disagree with me here. They say not to spend the $. Do the search engines. Do the sites like Digg. Do the blogs. Do the link exchanging.
Hey, if that's your cup of tea, more power to ya. But I gotta ask you...how ya doin' out there so far? Don't you want to make some really good bucks?
Can ya smell it? MMMMMM!
If you think one needs not to pay for advertising, well, okay. For the rest of you, try it, and see for yourselves.
When starting out on something new, all of us needs to try things to see for ourselves anyway.
Have a great day, and a better future!
By:
Perry Rose
TheList.FM
Perry@TheList.FM
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar