10 Profoundly Effective Steps to Internet Marketing Success

Over the years, I've read thousands and thousands of marketing articles, both online and off. But to this point, I have never read any article that was what I considered to be 100% idiot-proof - meaning even a dunce, moron, or complete idiot couldn't screw up the process.So I decided to write such an article.

And if you read and judiciously apply the ridiculously simple, but profoundly effective and proven success steps presented in this article, I am 100% convinced beyond any shadow of doubt that anyone can absolutely, positively make money with Internet Marketing.

Why am I so confident in these steps? Because these are the exact same steps I've used to build nearly 100 profitable websites of my own, in a very short period of time.

Here are the steps:

1. Brainstorm Your Domain Name

This is an important process, so don't rush it. Even if it takes you weeks or even months to come up with a domain name you're satisfied with. Take as much time as you need. Your domain name is that important.

I'm a firm believer in creating generic domain names that utilize your primary keywords. For example, NewyorkCityHotels.com or NapaValleyWines.com. Having a generic domain name serves two crucial purposes:

First, it will attract a more targeted audience to your website. A targeted audience will give you a much higher conversion ratio - allowing you to make maximum use of the traffic you receive.

Second, generic domain names that utilize your primary keywords will help with your search ranking. While SEO experts have opposing viewpoints whether or not this actually helps, based on my own personal experience, I can tell you that it does.

By the way, because of the astronomical number of domains on the Internet, you may have to get a little creative in order to utilize your primary keywords in your domain name. For example, if your first choice, NewYorkCityHotels.com is already taken, try playing around with different variations of your keywords.

For example, try this variation, HotelsinNewYorkCity.com...or this one, CityofNewYorkHotels.com. Also, don't be afraid to use hyphens in your domain name. Using this technique allows me to utilize my primary keywords 100% of the time.

It also allows me to use the much preferred .com domain. You should try to use .com domains whenever possible, because most people will automatically put a .com on the end of a domain when they type it into a search engine. This puts you in prime position to pick up traffic from domains in your category that utilize extensions other than .com.

2. Register Your Domain Name, and Forget It

After you decide on a domain name, don't build your website right away. Register your domain name, and forget it. Why? Because in my opinion, you should never build a website without having a plan to promote, as well as monetize your website. Develop a well-thought-out marketing plan going forward, then when you build your website, you can hit the ground running.

3. Develop Your Marketing Plan

I'm a member of several small business forums, and without fail, the two questions that get asked most often are:

"How do I promote my website?" or, "How do I get free traffic to my website?" Those two basic questions get asked every single day.

That's why it's so important to develop a marketing plan in advance. You need to know the answer to those questions, before you build your website. You can't get to your destination, if you don't know know where you want to go.

4. Your Budget Determines Your Marketing Plan

If you have thousands of dollars to work with, then you have many more options when it comes to promoting your website. For example, you can buy ads in offline publication, as well as online publications.

A word of advice: Unless you are an experienced marketer with extremely deep pockets, stay away from pay-per-click advertising. PPC advertising will eat up your advertising budget quicker than Usain Bolt breaks world records.

In reality, most people coming online don't have thousands of dollars to work with. In fact, most people coming online have little or no money at all. But that's the beauty of the Internet. Even if you are broke, you can still promote your website effectively, if you know what you're doing.

For example, you can participate in social media networking, and promote your website via mega-popular sites such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and a host of other social media websites.

Other free and highly effective promotion methods include article marketing, forum posting, guest blogging, RSS feeds, volunteering your expertise on Question & Answer sites like AllExperts.com and more.

5. Learn How to Implement Your Marketing Plan Effectively

Starting a business - any business without having even basic marketing skills is downright foolish. Competency in marketing is the most important business skill that you can have. If you become proficient in the art of marketing, it will allow you to become profitable that much quicker. And there won't be anything that you can't accomplish.

Some of the greatest sales and marketing books ever written are located right under your nose at your local library - and they're free. Do yourself a favor and study the classics. Many of the marketing techniques being used today are based on sound marketing principles established many decades ago.

A few of my favorite marketing books include The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy, Advertising Secrets of the Written Word by Joe Sugarman, Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz, Tested Advertising Methods by John Caples, Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy, Magic Words That Bring You Riches by Ted Nicholas and How to Write a Good Advertisement by Victor O. Schwab.

If you can't find these books at your local library, you can pick them up for just a few dollars on Amazon.

6. Apply What You Learn

It's not enough to just read the classics, you have to apply what you learn. Otherwise, what's the point? That means reading the books more than once - several times if necessary. Actually, you should read the books as many times as it takes for the information to sink in and become second nature to you.

You should also take copious notes, and practice writing ads over and over and over again. You should give yourself regular written exams on the information in the books, and each time you test yourself, your goal should be to score 100%.

Sounds like hard work, doesn't it? It is. The question is how hard are you willing to work to get what you want?

7. Monetizing Your Website

There are a number of ways that you can monetize your website - from selling advertising on your site to affiliate programs. My preferred method is affiliate programs.

Why? Because affiliate programs are completely hands-off for you. No billing, no inventory, no hassles. You simply choose from among the thousands of affiliate programs available on the Internet, select your program of interest, and promote the living daylights out of it. Then take your checks to the bank - that's it.

8. Take Your Income to the Next Level

Once you start making $50 per month with affiliate programs, build another website, and start promoting another affiliate program. And when that website starts making $50, build another website and another and another.

Why? Because if you have 10 websites making $50 per month, that's a monthly income of $500. And therein lies the secret to making money on the Internet.

Why beat yourself up trying to make hundreds - or even thousands of dollars with a single website? Take the path of least resistance. Build a bunch of websites that make just $50 per month. If you can build fifty websites in a year, that's a monthly income of $2500, or $30,000 a year. Does your current job pay that much?

And the beauty of this method is you can keep giving yourself a raise. If you build another fifty websites the following year, you just doubled your income to $5,000 per month. And if you can build another fifty websites the following year, you just tripled your income to $7500 per month.

The key to making this method work is building simple, low-maintenance websites. Just add content once or twice a month, and forget about them.

Think it can't be done? Think again. I'm doing it, and so are thousands of other smart and resourceful entrepreneurs.

9. What About Content?

The key to having a website that other websites want to link to is having quality, content that is relevant to the overall theme of your website. You can either produce the content yourself, import it from somewhere else, or a combination of both.

If you elect to import your content from somewhere else, you can either use free content from article directories like EzineArticles.com, or you can purchase PLR articles, which I don't recommmend. Why? Because hundreds of other people purchased the exact same PLR package as you. So those articles have to be completely rewritten, which is a time-consuming process.

Whichever way you choose to go, just remember, it's important to have lots and lots of relevant content on your website. How much content? The more the better. After all, the more content you have on your website, the more often your visitors will return to read that content.

10. Build Your Website

Okay, now that you've properly laid the foundation for success, it's time to build your website. The type of website you build will again depend on the amount of money you have to play around with.

I have a bunch of websites that I paid nothing for. And I have websites that I paid hundreds of dollars for. My recommendation: If you don't have to spend money on a website, don't. Nowadays, it's not necessary to spend a lot of money to get a decent looking website.

But whatever you do, be sure to purchase your own domain name. You definitely don't want the name Blogspot, WordPress or Homestead in your domain name. It just looks amateurish.

I buy most of my domains through Network Solutions, because I've been using them for years, and I'm comfortable with them. Their domains cost a lot more, but they more than make up for it with great customer service. That's something you just can't put a price on. That being said, I've also purchased $10 domain names from GoDaddy without any problems.

One last thing, don't beat your brains out worrying about SEO. Just make sure your primary keywords appear in your title tag, and you'll be just fine.

Article Marketing Explained

Wikipedia defines article marketing as:

"A type of advertising in which businesses write short articles related to their respective industry. These articles are made available for distribution and publication in the marketplace.

Each article contains a bio box and byline that include references and contact information for the author's business. Well-written content articles released for free distribution have the potential of increasing the authoring business' credibility within its market as well as attracting new clients."

Does article marketing work?

Yes, it does. But you have to be committed to it.

That means you can't write one or two articles, and expect to see results. In order for article marketing to be effective, you have to write many articles consistently over time.

How Many Articles Do You Need to Write to See Results?

It's been my experience that serious article marketers usually write at least one article per week. I personally write a minimum of two articles each week. Again, that's a minimum. I've written as many as three or four articles in one week.

So What's the Secret of Article Marketing? Why Does it Work?

Article marketing works for three main reasons:

1. It Gives You Credibility. Writing articles allows you to present yourself as an expert in your field - provided, of course, you really are an expert, or at the very least have above average knowledge of the topic that you're writing about. This not only gives you instant credibility, it also gives you a leg up on your competition.

Let me explain. When someone reads an informative, value-packed article written by you, at the end of the article they click on the link in your resource box which takes them to your website or a page of your choosing.

The prospect is much more relaxed and less apprehensive when she arrives at your website, because she arrived via an informative article that she herself chose to read, as opposed to an intrusive, hyped-up advertisement.

And since she just read your article, she is much more comfortable with you, and as a result is much more likely to purchase whatever it is that you're selling.

2. It's Targeted. People generally read information that focuses on the subject matter that they're interested in. For example, pet owners will read information related to their pets. Car enthusiasts will read information about cars, and so on and so forth.

That means readers of your articles are already targeted. And if what you're selling is related to the subject matter of the article (which it should be), you have a better than average chance of making the sale.

3. Articles Are Viral. That means if people find value in what you write, they will pass along your articles to others voluntarily. I can't even count the number of times friends and colleagues of mine have e-mailed articles to me they thought I might be interested in reading, and vice versa.

If your article is well-written and presents valuable information, it could be passed along and seen by thousands of potential prospects.

But What if I'm Not a Good Writer?

Now I realize not everyone is capable of writing articles. However, you can still participate in article marketing, because there are services that will ghost-write articles for you at a reasonable price, and allow you to claim ownership of those articles.

One extremely reputable article marketing service that I have particular high regard for is Bill Platt's ThePhantomWriters.com.

One Last Thing About Article Marketing

I know it's popular to submit your articles to all the top article directories, or use the latest software to blast your article to a gazillion publishers. But I disagree with that approach.

I find it's much more effective to choose one or two initial publications that you would like to be featured in, then work on developing a relationship with them. That's exactly the method I use today.

I've established a relationship with a couple of select publications, and I submit my articles to them exclusively. If you want to have some control over where your articles are published, I advise you to do the same.

The 10 Commandments For Marketing Failure

Just like there are proven techniques for marketing success, conversely, there are also guaranteed formulas for marketing failure.

Following are The 10 Commandments For Marketing Failure:

1. Thou shall not have a clear vision and goal.

2. Thou shall not have a clean, easy to navigate website.

3. Thou shall not learn and implement basic SEO techniques.

4. Thou shall not advertise and promote thy business consistently.

5. Thou shall not give customers easy and convenient payment options.

6. Thou shall not experiment with different marketing techniques.

7. Thou shall not monitor and track marketing results.

8. Thou shall not adapt to changing marketplace environment and/or trends.

9. Thou shall not listen to customer complaints, suggestions or feedback.

10. Thou shall not follow-up with customers.

How to Write Headlines That Make Readers Slam On Their Eyeball Brakes

The title of this article just stopped you dead in your tracks didn't it?

Well, that was the intent, and the entire subject matter of this article. And I intend to deliver exactly what I promised in my headline.

You see, the key to successful advertising is the right people seeing your ad and responding. However, your ad has a far greater chance of succeeding, if your headline is strong.

How Important Is A Strong Headline?

If your headline is weak, chances are, it won't get noticed, and your ad will fail. At the very least, it won't be nearly as successful as it could be.

Here's a stat that will help drive home my point. On average, 8 out of 10 people will read your headline, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest of your copy?

Think about that for a second: On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest of your copy. Do you understand the full import of that statement?

In a nutshell, it means people will decide whether or not to read your ad, based solely on how compelling your headline is. In other words, if your headline doesn't capture the readers imagination, your ad is pretty much destined to fail. That's how important it is to get the readers attention.

This is especially true for online copy, because Internet users are notorious scanners. You have to literally make them "Slam On Their Eyeball Brakes!"

What Makes A Good Headline?

Before you can write a good headline, you first have to understand what the job of a headline is. The number one job of a headline is to get the readers attention - period. All other considerations are secondary. It doesn't matter whether you're writing a sales letter, article, flyer, brochure, postcard - whatever.

Now there are two ways that you can grab the attention of the reader - with a direct headline or indirect headline. What's the difference?

In an direct headline, you get directly to the point. You let the reader know right upfront what you're selling, and what your amazing offer is. For example:

"How to Win Friends and Influence People"

That headline is about as direct as it gets. Conversely, an indirect headline is much more subtle and mysterious. The main function of an indirect headline is to create curiosity in the reader - to make her want to read more. For example:

"The Man With The Grasshopper Mind"

Is that a provocative headline or what? By the way, Those two examples are both classic headlines, and are two of the 100 Greatest Headlines Ever Written.

Direct or Indirect Headlines: Which Is Better?

Actually, both types work. So it's basically a matter of personal preference. Personally, I prefer direct headlines. I believe in respecting the readers time, so I like to get right to the point in my headline. That way, the reader can decide immediately if she wants to continue reading the rest of my copy.

That being said, do you remember what I said earlier? The number one job of a headline is to get the readers attention - period. Remember, all other considerations are secondary.

So even though I prefer direct headlines, there have been occasions when I've used indirect headlines to accomplish that goal.

You Have To Know Your Target Audience

However, regardless of which type of headline you use - direct or indirect, it's important to understand your target market. It's absolutely imperative that you know your audience. Knowing your audience will help you write more effective headlines, as well as more effective copy in general.

For example, one of my websites is a marketing blog. And being a marketing guy, I happen to know for a fact that one of the things my readers are interested in is writing more effective headlines. How do I know this? Market research. I conducted a survey among my readers.

Always, Always, Always research your market! Do whatever it takes to completely know and understand your target audience. That can be your greatest edge over your competition.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. My target audience for this article are readers interested in learning how to write compelling headlines. So in my headline, I focused on what my audience wants - to write compelling headlines. Hence the headline:

How to Write Headlines That Make Readers Slam On Their Eyeball Brakes.

You have to admit, that's a pretty provocative headline. That being said, results are the true litmus test for any headline. However, my gut instinct and twenty years of sales and marketing experience tells me that's a strong headline and will be very successful. "How To" headlines are generally very effective.

Now I simplified the writing process here for the sake of brevity. But you'll more than likely have to write dozens of headlines, before you come up with something you like - something that's going to be effective. It's all part of the writing process.

For me personally, my best headlines are usually the ones that sort of just pop into my head. But remember, I have twenty years of experience doing this.

Generally speaking, you're better off writing a bunch of headlines, until you end up with your strongest one.

How To Determine Your Strongest headline

So how do you determine your strongest headline? Well, if you're an experienced marketer, you could always split-test your headlines. But if you're not that experienced, the easiest way is simply to show your headlines to your friends, and family. Get their opinions.

Also, if you're a member of any small business forums, show your headlines to forum members to get their feedback.

Let me walk you through the steps of writing another headline.

Let's suppose I own an ice cream shop. Now since I already did my market research, I know that most consumers like having a variety of flavors to choose from. So I'm sure that I would get an ice cream lovers attention with a headline like this:

"Ice Cream Lovers: We Have More Flavors Than Tiger Woods Has Girlfriends!"

Now let's discuss exactly what I did for a moment. My target audience for this ad are people who love ice cream - which is pretty much everybody. Nonetheless, in my headline I targeted my audience by using the words, "ice cream lovers" and I gave my audience what they want by using the words "more flavors."

Let me explain what else I did. I used the name of a famous celebrity in my headline, which is always guaranteed to get attention. Remember, the number one job of a headline is to get the readers attention.

But I also did something else. I brought emotion into the mix - the emotion of humor - coupled with a current, hot news story. In my headline, I told readers that my ice cream shop has "more flavors than Tiger Woods has girlfriends!"

That headline has strong emotional appeal. After all, who wouldn't get a chuckle out of that headline, other than Tiger and his wife, right?

By the way, emotional appeals and hot news stories are very powerful in headlines. So use them as often as possible. Are you starting to get a feel for writing effective headlines yet?

Well, let's write one more to make sure.

Pizza Anyone?

Let's suppose I own a pizza shop. Again, start with the fundamentals. My target for this ad is a general audience. After all, nearly everyone eats pizza, right?

But despite that fact, I'm still going to target my audience by using the word, "pizza" in my headline. Now this one's a little trickier because pizza ads are a dime a dozen.

So I need to do something to make my headline different - to stand out. I've decided to give my headline instant credibility by using a feature that is unique to my pizza shop. Here's the headline I came up with:

"Jackson's Pizza: Voted Albany's Best Pizza For 10 Straight Years!"

Do you know what the reaction of most people reading that headline would be?

"Wow...voted Albany's best pizza for 10 straight years! It must be good!"

This headline also has strong emotional appeal. Why? Because everyone likes to be associated with a winner. It's human nature.

5 Steps For Writing Effective Headlines

Wrapping everything up, I'm going to summarize what it takes to write effective headlines into 5 simple steps:

1. You must know and understand your target audience. Research your market.

2. Target your headline to that audience.

3. Give your audience what they want.

4. Get the readers attention. Be creative.

5. Use emotional appeals, and hot news stories in your headlines whenever possible. Again, be creative.

By the way, when writing headlines don't try to trick or mislead people. Get people's attention, yes. Be creative, yes. But also, be honest.

Write Your Headline Before First, Before Writing Your Copy

One last thing: Different experts have different schools of thoughts on this. But I'm a firm believer in writing your headline first, before writing your actual copy.

Why? Remember at the beginning of this article, when I promised to deliver on what I promised in my headline? Well, I've worked extremely hard on this article to do just that. Hopefully, I've succeeded.

The point is your headline is a promise to prospective readers - a promise that you should be committed to keeping. And I believe that if you write a strong, compelling headline first, it will force you to work harder to write copy that lives up to the promise you make in your headline.

The League of Extraordinary Internet Marketing Experts

Google the phrase "Internet Marketing Experts," (without the quotation marks) and you'll get back over 30 million pages of results. But just calling yourself an Internet Marketing expert doesn't necessarily make you one.

And despite those 30 million pages of results, there are very few "legitimate" Internet Marketing experts. And even fewer who have built universally recognized "authority" sites.

And who bring to the table "real world" business experience, combined with useful, practical knowledge that will actually sharpen your marketing acumen and increase your skill level. In other words, help you take your Internet Marketing business to the next level.

In my opinion, this group of extraordinary Internet Marketing experts not only meet that threshold - they far exceed it. Are they the only Internet Marketing experts capable of teaching you effectively? Of course not.

However, in addition to having the ability to teach effectively, this group of experts are worthy of our admiration for another reason - longevity. Like the legendary Rock of Gibraltar, they have stood the proverbial test of time. Each individual has been successfully doing business on the Internet for at least ten years - delivering a decade of excellence.

Considering the incredibly competitive and fickle nature of Internet Marketing, that's quite an achievement. And I humbly salute these outstanding marketers(listed alphabetically)for their impressive accomplishments.

1. Allan Gardyne
http://www.associateprograms.com

Allan Gardyne Gardyne began his professional life in Australia as a journalist. One of Allan's earliest forays into Internet Marketing was founding AssociatePrograms.com in 1998.

Today, ask knowledgeable affiliate marketers who the leading authority on affiliate programs is and chances are, they'll say it's Allan Gardyne - and they'd be right.

AssociatePrograms.com, is a comprehensive directory of affiliate programs - a virtual cornucopia of affiliate marketing information, if you will - including articles, software and plenty of helpful tips and advice.

The AP website is divided into three sections - beginners, intermediate and advanced. So you have the ability to choose your own level of learning.

If you would like to learn how to make money with affiliate programs, AssociatePrograms.com should be your first stop. Also, be sure to subscribe to the Associate Programs Newsletter.

Each bi-weekly issue is jam-packed with insider tips on how to market affiliate products successfully. In addition, the newsletter reviews the best and worst affiliate programs - and interviews super affiliates who offer success tips of their own.

2. Bill Platt
http://thephantomwriters.com

Name the job, and Oklahoma's Bill Platt has probably done it. He has worked as a waiter, computer technician, computer programmer, substitute teacher, a radio dj, a salesperson and a manager.

However, since 1999, Bill has been operating for-profit websites. In 2001, he started ThePhantomWriters.com, the preeminent article marketing service on the Internet today.

Unlike other article marketing services, however, TPW doesn't submit your articles to article directories.

Their reasoning for this is simple: When you submit your article to an article directory, your article is just one of hundreds - possibly even thousands of new articles submitted that day.

That means once your article has been submitted, publishers or anyone else looking for content have to search the directory to find your article among thousands of other articles in the directory.

Instead, TPW uses a different approach. They submit each article directly to relevant websites and newsletter publishers most likely to publish your articles.

Does their approach work? Apparently it does, because on the TPW website is a "who's who" list of repeat clients that include some of the biggest names in their respective fields.

By the way, as their name suggests, if you need a ghostwriting service, TPW can provide that as well.

3. Christopher Knight
http://ezinearticles.com

Unless you've been living in a cave for the last decade, you've no doubt heard of EzineArticles.com, an expert author community of over 150,000+ authors. But just in case you haven't heard of them...Christopher Knight's EZA happens to be the #1 article directory on the planet - period.

That's no small feat, considering there's a tremendous amount of competition among the mega-article directories. And they're all vying to dethrone EZA as "King of the article directories."

However, there's one thing that sets EZA apart from all the other article directories. And that's Christopher Knight himself, Publisher and CEO of EzineArticles.com. Unlike most article directory owners, Chris is personally involved with his article directory. And personality is the one thing you just can't duplicate in business.

Speaking of being personally involved, you can actually communicate with Chris personally, through his EZA blog:

http://blog.ezinearticles.com.

Think about that for a second. You can communicate personally with the CEO of the world's largest article directory. With that kind of personal involvement, something tells me, EZA isn't planning on giving up its crown anytime soon.

4. Dr. Ken Evoy
http://www.sitesell.com

Dr. Ken Evoy formerly taught and practiced emergency medicine at McGill University in Montreal, Canada where he was born. Since 1979, Dr. Ken Evoy has been the founder and Chairman of the Board of SiteSell, Inc., and the creator of the revolutionary "next generation" website-building/hosting/marketing system, Site Build It!

Evoy also co-wrote what is considered by many to be the "bible of Internet Marketing," Make Your Site Sell. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend you do so.

To say that this e-book over-delivers would be a gross understatement. It over-delivers to the tune of 1500 information-filled pages. You can get a free copy of MYSS at: http://myss.sitesell.com.

5. Marnie Pehrson
http://ideamarketers.com

Marnie Pehrson was born and raised in the Chattanooga, Tennessee area. In 1998, Pehrson, a mother of six combined her love for writing with her knack for marketing to create IdeaMarketers.com, one of the first and most successful article directories on the Internet.

She also has the distinction (along with her friend, Alanna Webb)of creating the first online mall.

Marnie has a background in computer programming, and she has put that skill to good use by continuing to expand IdeaMarketers, and it shows. Over 50,000 writers submit content to IdeaMarketers.

6. Michel Fortin
http://www.successdoctor.com

Michel Fortin was born in Canada to an abusive father. And while he had a built-in excuse to fail or underachieve, Michel ascended.

Inspired by a quote from author and poet Henry David Thoreau, Michel took his natural ability for persuasive writing, and entered the highly competitive world of copywriting.

Fast-forward to today, amd Michel Fortin is now known as The Success Doctor.

Since its inception in 1997, The Success Doctor, Inc., an international copywriting and direct response consultancy company has helped countless business owners and sales people learn to write the kind of copy that gets results.

Michel is the epitome of that rare breed of Internet Marketing experts who have the ability to teach effectively. In fact, he used to teach sales and mar­ket­ing at a local col­lege in Ottawa, Canada.

7. Shelley Lowery
http://www.web-source.net

Since 1998, Web-Source.net has been owned and operated by Shelley Lowery, President of Brajusta Publishing, Inc., a direct marketing company located in Lewis Center, Ohio.

Web-Source.net specializes in providing instructional electronic books, software and publications, and provides visitors with the latest Internet technology for website design and development.

The site contains a comprehensive listing of articles, reviews, HTML tips, tricks and JavaScript codes - as well as the latest Internet Marketing news.

Shelley is also the author of Web Design Mastery - an eight volume, in-depth guide to professional website design. This acclaimed course includes step-by-step instructions, professional web site templates and hundreds of copy and paste codes.