Internet Marketing Tips from Team OceanSwell - Part V

When I was first planning Team OceanSwell, back in October of '09, I considered more than one affiliate program before deciding on TrafficWave. But I made my choice for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that you NEED an autoresponder if you plan to earn a living online - especially long term.

You simply have got to have one. Which brings me to the subject of today's topic...

############################################

List Building: The fundamental key to your online success

############################################

Affiliate Funnel holds a weekly class on the basics of list-building and what it all means. In fact, it's a revolving four-part series. I recommend it! With the TrafficWave autoresponder tool, you are able to put lead-capture forms in your ads, on your blog, etc. so that readers can 'opt-in' to your letter series, newsletters or whatever in return for a giveaway, an ebook, an information package or any other kind of online product.

Whether you are an OceanSwell Team Leader or you've gone through the Rotator and are promoting on your own, your subscriber list is something that you will want to grow forever. And your relationship with the people on that list is CRITICAL. I've got a saying that applies to list-building and autoresponder letters: 'Either do something worth writing about, or write something worth reading about'. If you can do either one, your subscribers will have a reason to open your emails and read what you have to say. That's when you will have a productive mailing list.

Most of us, myself included, are just ordinary people with ordinary lives. We're not all 'writers', and most of us have had no training in marketing. What we know has come from the school of hard knocks and lessons learned along the way. But that's good information to share with others! What's more, virtually all of us only have a few hours a week to devote to our businesses at first - i.e. we all start out as part-timers. just about all of your online sales prospects are the same way, and it's important to remember that. But an autoresponder is the ultimate TIME-SAVER - for everyone involved. It allows you to communicate with others 24/7, world-wide.

Of course, you still have to know how to use it!

To be an Internet Marketer, we are told, is a few easy 'clicks' away. Just turn on the computer, hit the enter key and watch the money start rolling in! Of course, you soon learn that it's much harder than that. You have to learn a whole LOT and you have to develop systems for everything you do. But an autoresponder is an INVALUABLE tool that helps make things easier and more profitable for you over time. In fact, it's the foundation of everything that you will do online and so that's why TrafficWave (and it's famous affiliate pay plan) was my choice for TeamOceanSwell.

If you are reading this and have joined TrafficWave, you should have set up your DEFAULT autoresponder by now. If not, then please do so today. Brian Rooney's stock letters are fine, though you can modify them if you want - or add more! But if you haven't done this yet, that's your first mistake. It is crucial that you set up the DEFAULT autoresponder that links to your TW affiliate pages. You'll never get anywhere with TrafficWave if you don't know how to use the product!

Suffering from Blogger’s Block?

Do you ever sit down to write a blog post, fresh out of ideas and scratching your head until that light bulb turns on? Or are you planning to start a blog but not really sure what to write about? It happens to all of us at some point, so don’t feel like you are alone. Here are some tips to get those blog writing gears going:

1. Set goals for yourself. Although this may seem like the obvious, it is easily overlooked. Why begin a blog writing expedition without an end game?
2. Do some planning. As part 2 to setting your goals, plan out your blog posts for the next week or month – whichever goal you set for yourself. The focus of this exercise is preparation.
3. Research. There are many sites out there that aid in curing writer’s block. Bookmark these sites to reference in those times of need.
4. Read! The more you read the more your brain muscles will flex. Reading will expose you to different writing styles and topics. Go ahead and set a goal for yourself with this as well – start a bit ambitious, such as reading a book a week, so you have plenty to strive for.

So, don’t get stressed or flustered. Even putting one of these tips into effect will result in blog writing improvements. Take a stand - combat writer’s block by proactively taking advantage of those days that flourish with ideas; and most importantly have fun!

New Podcast features Ten Tips for Twitter

Our latest Ten Golden Rules Internet Marketing Podcast features Ten Tips for Getting Started on Twitter.

The podcast was recorded for an Internet Marketing Club Wednesday Webinar and it featured famous Twitter experts Warren Whitlock, author of Twitter Revolution, Gail Goodwin from Inspire Me Today and Huffington Post and iconic88 a Twitter Superhero with a semi secret identity.

There’s an App for That, no Really There is

I dropped my iPhone yesterday and shattered the screen. I’ve dropped it numerous times in the past and nothing ever happened to it. I have to admit I didn’t realize how dependant I was on my iPhone until it went to the big tech graveyard in the sky. I used “her” for everything from accessing my email, Twitter, Google Buzz, Foursquare, and Facebook to name a few. Yes my phone is female and believe it or not I named her. I’ll give you a buck if you can guess her name correctly.

So I made an appointment at my local Genius Bar to get the screen replaced. I got there right on time and they were a little behind on their appointments. No problem I thought to myself and figured I could checkout the latest and greatest apps for the iPhone.

The latest and greatest I did not find during my search but I did find some interesting apps. Well I guess you could call them interesting…

iMated 2: Ever wondered what it’d look like if you and your friends mated? Yeah, us too. Question no more, because iMated makes it easy!

Click Here for a YouTube click showing how it works.

iSqueeze: You have 4 cartoon characters plus an unlimited number of pictures – use any picture from your gallery or the iPhone camera! There’s a special camera interface and image editing/preparation menu - pimples appear only in right places!

iPoo: Always find yourself with nothing to do while you're sitting on the can? Introducing iPoo - a new iPhone application that gives you something to do - while you poo! iPoo is a social community that brings together pooers from around the world.

Note: there will be no clip showing how this app works.

iTrust: Does your girlfriend or boyfriend trust you, or do you think they read your texts and emails while you're away from your phone? Start iTrust. Follow the simple instructions and leave it with someone you would like to test. If your test subject tries to access your phone while you are away. A log will be saved of the events that have taken place, and you can playback this log at your own convenience.

Click Here for a YouTube click showing how it works.

Have You Received Phone Calls From YELP!?

There is website set up announcing two class action lawsuits against Yelp Inc. The company operates a website that enables people to post comments and review on businesses. The suit alleges that San Francisco based, Yelp, is an extortion scheme and that when a company is listed on their site for a negative comment, employees offer “advertising contracts” to remove the listing. This started after a veterinary hospital asked if Yelp would remove a false claim, and the company “demanded” $300 a month. The case, which is styled Cats and Dogs Animal Hospital Inc. v. Yelp Inc., was filed on February 23, 2010, and is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Internet Marketing Tips from Team OceanSwell - Part IV

While you are awaiting your turn to go through the OceanSwell Team Rotator, your mission is really quite simple: Promote the Team Ad links anywhere and everywhere possible, as often as possible. However, if you are marketing something else at the same time, or if you have graduated from the Rotator, or if you are one of those with the time, skills and resources to be a Team Leader, then you need to focus upon: Lead Generation, E-Mail Marketing and Prospecting in general.

If you expect to have a big online income, then you have got to BE big. You have to do a lot of different things and you must reach out and contact large numbers of people. For me, that has always meant email marketing - either bulk mailing, safelists or a combination of both. There are plenty of good safelists featured within Affiliate Funnel. And under the Tools tab, there is one particularly good information product that you can look
at here:

Email Promos Exposed

It is very good! Of course, you can pay for services that will 'blast' your message to hundreds of safelists at a time. But that isn't free either, and you can't buy everything when you're just getting started. And don't forget what I said before: This isn't a race! If you're getting
overwhelmed, take a step back and slow down.

Anyway, there are lots and lots of resources out there for gathering double-optin email leads. If they are free, then the 'leads' are probably not very good. But hey, free's free, right? It's always a numbers game, and you can sell ice to Eskimos if you advertise ENOUGH.

A little searching around online can turn up numerous 'free leads' outlets. Here are three examples:

Orange Leads

Free Survey Leads

Free-Leads


Given the time and resources that are available to you, it will be necessary to develop a regular schedule of marketing tasks - things that you do on a regular (or even daily) basis. Email marketing should be a part of that. Just take it hour by hour, one task at a time, one day at a time. And please, don't get discouraged if you aren't getting dozens of signups right away. It takes TIME, so let it take time.

Pay Per Click Tip - Focus On Longtail

When starting a new pay per click campaign, there is no need to get into a bidding war with your competitors before you know how well your campaign converts. Rather, focus on very specific, long tail phrases that are likely to have less competition and a lower cost per click than the more general short tail phrases.

Additionally, don't start out with broad match phrases. Instead, start testing with exact and phrase matching on your keyword list. This will help your ads to only show up for highly relevant searches. Using only very specific phrases will give you a better idea of how your creative performs and how your landing pages convert without breaking the bank.

Once you have your ad copy and landing pages optimized based on your campaign data, then you can start including more broad phrases.