Have you ever wondered what it is that sets the best internet marketing gurus apart from the rest of the people who frequent webmaster forums and Make Money Online communities?
It’s all too easy to assume that the difference between the success stories and those who never quite make it is either luck, or resources, but in most cases this is simply not true.
Yes, sometimes luck is a factor, but in general, the most successful online marketers aren’t people who were in “the right place at the right time,” or people who were fortunate enough to be able to pour money into getting their business off the ground.
Rather, they were the people who figured out early on how to work smart instead of living from monthly payout to monthly payout.
The Best Internet Marketing Secrets
Many online marketers make the simple mistake of thinking about the next payout, and only the next payout. They pour everything into one sale, or jump on to a hot new program that offers short term commission opportunities, without thinking about building a sustainable business.
[leadplayer_vid id=”528E8A50E3B16″]
It’s easy to understand how people fall into this trap – especially if their bank accounts are empty and they have bills to pay, but in the long run, this business model is not sustainable.
What would you do if all of your money was coming from one merchant, and their products went out of fashion? What if your website gets hit with a Google penalty, or your best affiliate program closes down?
The best internet marketing gurus build an income that comes from a wide range of sources. That is not to say that they spread themselves very thin, but rather that they build decent depth in a series of affiliate programs, and they also spend time building a downline
This means that they have residual income from several different sources. If their own websites have problems, they will still have some income to depend on from those in their downline.
Nurturing Leads for Sustainable Income
Lead generation is key to the online marketing strategies of the best internet marketing gurus. In fact, most of them spend twice the amount of time on lead generation as they do on direct promotion. They understand that simple selling is just one tool, and that networking, connecting people, and helping others grow is a vital part of any marketing strategy.
Earning from Your Website
Ideally, you should aim to have more than one website. If your websites are located on different hosting accounts, but serve the same niche, you can link them to each other to improve your rankings. Do not link websites that are located on the same host, or that are not related to each other, however, because this will likely cause you to get penalized by Google.
Spend a month or two building up content on each website before you launch the next one, and then take some time every couple of weeks after that to refresh the content on each site. Do not leave a website to languish unattended for a prolonged period of time, because consumers do not trust websites that look like they have been abandoned. Fresh content helps you to look more professional and trustworthy.
Choose your affiliate programs carefully – look not just at the payout per sale, but also how easy it will be to close a deal. In some cases, a product that is easy to sell with a low commission is better than a higher value item that is rarely bought online. Many affiliate networks disclose the likely earning figures in terms of earnings per thousand visitors.
You can use this figure as part of your assessment. Of course, if you are very confident in your ability to sell a given product (for example, if you are a respected figure in a particular industry or have a lot more expertise than the average affiliate), there is no harm in adding more esoteric affiliate programs to your network of websites.
It may take many months to see a reliable, steady income from online marketing, but it is worth the effort. Do not make the mistake of giving up just before your hard work reaches critical mass.
